Itsumademo, zettai ni mamoru
by lemonscenteddaves
Summary: I will always protect you.
1. Teaser

A/N: I know it's a little late, but I got really bored the other night and wrote a teaser for iznm! :D Enjoy~

--

Kurogane Suwa did _not_ want to go on this stupid vacation.

Who cared that all he ever did was train to become a ninja?

That he didn't have any friends?

That everyone was afraid of him?

Apparently his mom, because she bought two tickets for a cruise and drug him with her.

Kurogane couldn't figure out why though.

I mean, it's not like this cruise was gonna change anything.

--

Fai Fluorite couldn't _wait_ for his first vacation since he was three years old.

He still couldn't believe he'd won two tickets to a cruise, and that Ashura had to come because he wasn't an adult.

But he didn't really care, because this was a week he could be free.

Maybe he'd even make a friend?

He doubted it.

He didn't _have _any friends.

Fai sighed; he knew this cruise wouldn't change a thing.

--

Tomoyo couldn't wait much longer.

She'd seen how bad both these boys' lives were, and was determined to do _something._

So she was going to take Kurogane on the cruise in hopes they'd meet each other there.

She knew this week would change both of their lives for good.

Just like in her dreams.

At least, she really hoped so.


	2. Chapter 1: Little

**A/N: **It's finally up on the new story! n__n (see chapter 2 for an explaination on why I moved it)

I've got a some of pictures for this miniseries! Here's a link (I think you'll have to copy and paste it in your adress bar 'cuse it's not a link from this website. I may be wrong though...) .com/gallery/#tsubasa-fanfic-miniseries **Warning: some of those pics are of things that haven't happened yet, so don't look if you don't want something to be spoiled (This warning is in effect until chapter 4)!**

* * *

**Little**

Kurogane hated his mom for this. Why was she making him come on this stupid cruise ship?! He'd rather be at home, practicing his ninja skills than be on some dumb cruise liner, going to some islands that he didn't even know the names of! But, despite his protests, here he was, boarding the ship.

"Honey, stay close. I don't want you getting kidnapped!"

"Motherrr!!" Kurogane whined, "I'm fine!"

"…Just stay close, please?"

"Whatever." Kurogane huffed as he crossed his arms over his chest. Maybe she'd give up if he pouted enough. Might as well try, seeing as there wasn't too much else to do.

* * *

After what seemed like an hour of walking, they reached their room. When they got inside and looked at the clock, however, he realized it was only a 10-minute walk. He groaned. If the time was already passing so slowly, he hated to think how the rest of this month would turn out.

_Might as well look around the room_, he thought.

The room was actually multiple rooms. There was a small living room with a couch, TV, mini fridge and microwave in it; along with a bathroom and two bedrooms. His mother had already claimed the one on the left to herself, so he went into the one on the right to see what it was like.

His room contained nothing but a bed (albeit a rather large one, maybe a queen sized bed?) and a dresser with a mirror. When he looked in the back of the room however, he saw what he thought was a closet. When he opened the door though, he found himself staring into another room!

"Mom, do we have three bedrooms?" He called out.

"No, why?" She answered, walking into his room. He just pointed at the room, not really feeling up to explaining.

"Son, that's the next room over. The rooms connect like this incase big families come and need more than one room." She explained, "So don't even THINK about going in there. Someone else should be moving in soon, and I don't want them to find you hanging around in their room. You might be kidnapped!"

"Mom, will you _please_ stop with this 'kidnapping' business? I'm NOT going to get kidnapped!!"

"Just don't go in there, okay? I worry about you."

"Why?! I'm a NINJA!! Ninja's don't need people to worry about them!"

"Aww, how cute~! My little boy still thinks he's a ninja!" She sang.

"I'm NOT cute, and I don't just THINK! I've been training in martial arts since I was four years old!"

"Well, you're still a kid. Now unpack for me please?"

"I'm not a kid! I'm eleven and a half!"

"Unpack. Now."

"Whatever." He huffed. As soon as she left the room though, he walked into the room next door. Even though it was just as uninteresting as his room, he wanted to prove his mother wrong. In a few seconds however, he would regret his decision. He heard two people walking into the room outside this one, and one of them was headed in here! He didn't have time to get back to his room, so he just stood there like an idiot, praying the person wasn't a kidnapper.

* * *

To his luck, it was just a boy that looked like he was the same age as him. He was slender, almost to the point of malnutrition, with beautiful blonde hair. He never thought that he would describe a boy as being stunningly beautiful, but this boy was definitely an exception. What killed him the most though were his eyes. He'd never met someone with two different coloured eyes before, but this boy had one gold eye and one blue one.

The boy must have noticed he was staring, because he looked at Kurogane questioningly. "Umm, hello? May I ask why you're standing in my room…?" he then asked (rather politely too, Kurogane noted, for someone that looked to be the same age as himself)

"I'm here 'cuse I wanna be." Kurogane stated flatly, "You got a _problem _with that?"

"I…umm…no…I'm Yuui, but I re-named myself Fai after my brother got…well, actually just forget about that~! I'm Fai D. Flourite and I'm eleven years old! What about you?" He chirped.

Kurogane just stood there for a moment before answering. A second ago he thought this kid was some polite freak, but oh boy was he wrong! He was hyper! "I'm Kurogane, and I'm eleven and a HALF." He finally said. Why bother telling this kid that his name was really youou, but he took the name Kurogane after his father died. Not by choice of course, his mom made him do it. He was only four at the time.

"Kurogane, hm? What a boring name! I'll call you…Kuro-chuu! Ohh Kuro-chuu we're going to be SUCH good friends~! I've never really had a friend before!" The blonde squealed. Kurogane just sighed angrily, almost wishing he'd said his name was youou. Maybe Fai would have thought that name acceptable. He DIDN'T want to be called such cutesy nicknames!

"First of all, I never said I'd be your friend. And secondly, what gives you the right to call me such stupid names?!"

"Why the first amendment, silly. I have the freedom of speech and I plan to exercise it!" He exclaimed as he threw his fist into the air. _Quite an energetic person_, Kurogane thought. _He kind of scares me_. _And the fist amendment?! Come ON! Had he stumbled upon an annoying, eccentric NERD by mistake?! No, he finally decided. As weird as it was to think this, he was too…pretty…to be a nerd _(again, he never thought tat he'd use "he" and "pretty" in the same context, but this was twice in one conversation!) He found himself gawking at the blonde once more.

"HELLOOOO? Kuro-pipi? What's wrong with you? You keep staring at me all weird!"

"I…umm…er…I spaced out, sorry." Kurogane fumbled.

"Alright, whatever kuron-kuron says…" Fai waved.

Kurogane didn't want him to find out he was staring at him, because that would just be WEIRD, so he changed the subject. "Umm, not that I plan on really talking to you that much, but do you prefer Fai or Yuui?"

He paused for a moment before deciding. "Fai," He finally said, "It will be much more convenient for everyone if they just forgot all about Yuui."

Kurogane couldn't help but wonder what he meant by this, but he wasn't up to thinking. Plus, he needed to get out of here before his mom opened the door to find him in here. He'd be in trouble AND Fai would know that his room was just a door away. Kurogane hoped that he wasn't as curious as he appeared, and that he'd never open that door.

"Well, I need to get back to my room," Kurogane started, "Bye."

"Wait!" Fai called out after Kurogane, who was already almost to the hall, "Let me walk you back?"

"Tch. Like hell I'd let you do that-someone might think we were friends!"

"But we ARE friends Kuro-pyuu!" Fai whined.

"We are most definitely NOT friends. Now I'm outta here." He huffed before turning the corner in the hall. He decided to wait where Fai couldn't see him for a few minutes before heading back, as to give the blonde time to go back inside. This way, he wouldn't know where Kurogane was staying, and therefore wouldn't be bothered by him as much. His great plan would have worked too, if his mother wouldn't have been sitting on the couch when he walked back in the room.

* * *

"Kurogane?!" She yelped. "I thought you were unpacking! How did you…" She started, but stopped herself short. Her face turned from confusion to anger. "YOU WENT THROUGH THAT OTHER ROOM AND TRIED TO ESCAPE, DIDN'T YOU?!" She yelled at her son. "AND I THOUGHT YOU SAID YOU WOULDN'T GO IN THERE! I hope you know, mister, that I heard the family in there just now. What would have happened if you'd have been walking through when they showed up?!" Kurogane almost started to complain about Fai, but then he realized that wouldn't be the best idea. His mom would make him apologize to Fai and his parent(s?), and that would make him think that Kurogane wanted to be his friend! _Which he did NOT, _he told himself.

"Well, I'm here now and I didn't get kidnapped or anything, so I'm okay right? Plus, I was gone what, ten minutes? Geez mom, I didn't even go anywhere! I just explored this little hallway for a few minutes and came back! No big deal!"

"It IS a big deal Mister Kurogane Youou Suwa! I don't want you putting yourself or others in danger just because you're angry at me for taking you here."

"I wasn't putting ANYONE in danger! And if you know I'm angry at you for taking me here, then why on earth am I still here?! "

"Well, you might, in the future. And you're only here for your own good. You may think you know a lot, but you really don't. There is many skills you still need to acquire, and this cruise should help you."

"How is a stupid cruise gonna help me learn skills?!?! Only skills that I need are the ones I gain from my martial arts classes!"

"Kurogane, darling, this just proves how much you have yet to learn. I pray that this trip will give you the chance to make a friend finally. One that not only teaches you the importance of friendship, but many other life skills as well."

"Mom, I hate it when you do these kinds on things! Plus, I don't need any friends! Since when do you know exactly what I need?!"

"Since I was your MOTHER! Now, you know how much it hurts me to punish you, but I'm going out and locking you inside your room. I trust that you won't go through that door again, correct?" She said, hurt in her voice.

"I didn't plan on going back _there_ anytime soon." He said, shivering at the mere thought of seeing that guy again.

"Alright, I'll see you in a little while then." She said as she shut his door. He could see the pained look on her face though, she really did hate punishing him. He decided that he should probably unpack while she was gone, but first he was going to sit against that door and think. As little as he showed it, he really did love his mom and would do anything for her. He just REALLY hated it when she went all 'philosophical' on him. What things could having a friend possibly teach him? The only things he needed to know were martial arts, so he could one day protect his mother, unlike when his father was killed right before his eyes and he couldn't do a thing about it. He had vowed from that day on to protect his mother, Tomoyo, so that she wouldn't have to endure what his father did.

* * *

"Who was that boy?"Ashura, Fai's adoptive dad called out after Fai came back into the room.

"Kuro-rin!" He replied happily. "He's staying here too and we're going to be the best of friends! He's only half a year older than me!"

"Friends?" Ashura laughed. "Since when did you have friends? Have you forgotten what you did to your family four years ago? No one could see past that!"

"I…he…this is different! He doesn't know and he WON'T know! I need a friend so badly…"

"Well, if you won't tell him then I will. No one is ever going to befriend you after they learn what you did to your family!"

"That wasn't my fault!" Fai cried, "And I'll prove you wrong! I'll show you that I can make a friend that will see past what I did and accept me for who I am, unlike you. You wouldn't even be here if you didn't have to be. You'll probably leave after I'm old enough to take care of myself!"

"Fai…Fai…Fai…why would you say such things? You know I love you so very much! I'm hurt by your words!" Ashura said sarcastically, exaggerating his movements as he spoke.

"You're lying through your teeth." Fai gritted, balling his hands into fists. "I HATE YOU!" He screamed, then ran back into his room and opened the closet to shut himself in it so (hopefully) Ashura wouldn't find him. Before he could even open the door though, he heard Ashura leave. _Figures,_ he thought as he opened up the closet. _Ashura always leaves the house after our fights. Sometimes he doesn't come back for a few weeks…_

His thoughts were cut short by what happened when he opened the door. Instead of seeing a clothes rack and hangers, he saw a room just like his with…Kurogane lying on Fai's feet?! _Ohh_, Fai thought to himself, _he must've been sitting against that door so when I opened it up he fell backwards! _Then it hit him, if he was on the other side of the door, and on the other side of the door was a room, then…

"Kuro-pii's room is on the other side of my door?! How EXCITING!" He squealed. Kurogane, on the other hand, did NOT look as pleased. He rolled off Fai's feet and stood up, brushing himself off. He looked so angry at Fai that, had this been a cartoon, he'd have had steam coming out from his ears.

"You IDIOT! Why'd you have to open the freaking door?! I didn't want you to know this was my room! You've ruined everything now! I hope you're happy! And if my mom finds out I'm in here she'll KILL me! And I thought I already told you to quit with the nicknames!" Kurogane shouted, enraged.

"And I thought I told you about the first amendment!" He teased, oblivious to the rest of Kurogane's rant. This made Kurogane eve angrier, so he turned to look at Fai. _I'm only doing this to give him a dirty look,_ he thought. When he did look though, he didn't see what he was expecting to. Instead of the happy-go-lucky Fai he'd spoken to not that long ago, he saw a smiling face that was obviously put-on. He could easily tell that Fai had just been bawling like a baby just moments ago. _What could make this kid cry so hard so fast?_ He wondered. He'd only been gone like, fifteen minutes, what could anyone have possibly done to him in that short of time? Maybe someone teased him and he couldn't take a dose of his own medicine? _Nah,_ he thought, _no way he'd have gone out and had that happen that quickly unless he had a brother. Maybe it was something more serious? But wait, didn't he mention a brother earlier? Oh yeah, he thought. He did mention one when he was telling Kurogane his name:_

_"I'm Yuui, but I re-named myself Fai after my brother got…"_

_Got what_, he wondered. He was almost about to ask Fai exactly what could have happened that would make him take his brother's name, but he was cut short by Fai.

"Hellllloooooo? Kuro-myuu?" He asked, waving his hand in front of Kurogane's face.

"What?!" Kurogane demanded, slapping his angry face back on.

"You were spacing out again! But this time, your face got all…soft! I'm sorry, but that seems very out of character for you! You seem like you're always all RAWR! And angry!"

"Since when would I say such a girly word like 'rawr'?"

"'Rawr' isn't a girly word, silly Kuron-ron. 'Frilly' or 'Fabulous' maybe, but not 'rawr'!"

"Okay, whatever." Kurogane grumbled, about ready to give up. This guy wore him out! He'd only been talking to him for less than five minutes and already he was almost too tired to fight back!

"You're dodging the question kuro-pyuu. What was up with that random soft expression? Don't tell me my little kurii is secretly a sweetie~! Hyuu~!" Fai smirked.

"I'm NOT a sweetie! And since when was I yours anyways?! I just met you like half an hour ago! So just shut up, okay?!"

"Aww~! Look at kuro-pon blush~! How adorable~!" Fai cooed.

"I'm not adorable." He gritted, hiding his face. Fai poked his cheek, giggling.

"Hyuu~! You're like a little potentate or something, aren't you Kuro-wanton?"

"A what now?!"

"Why, a potentate! It's my word of the day! Dictionary-san told me so~!"

"Well, are you gonna tell me what it MEANS? I'd prefer to understand my insults!"

"It means, well, actually, I've got no idea~! Hyuu~!"

"YOU DON'T KNOW?! If you're going to do something as dumb as a word of the day, at least know what it means!" He threw his hands in the air, signaling his defeat. He couldn't take this much longer.

"Wahh!! Kuro-pipi's making fun of my word of the day!" He whined.

"You really can't say things like 'Hyuu' and 'potentate' and not expect to get beat up! Geez!"

"But you shouldn't be so mean to me!"

"And why the hell not?! There's no reason on this earth that you can come up with that's reason enough for me to stop bothering you! Weren't you just going on about that whole first amendment crap just a second ago?"

"I've got a reason. And I quote: I have the right to attend school free of verbal and physical harassment, and be assured that education, not survival, is what's most important." He stated, obviously proud that he remembered it exactly.

"There's two things wrong about that statement. One, I haven't physically harassed you. And two, we're not even in school! It's summer you idiot! Or can you not tell?! And anyways, where the HELL did that even COME from?!"

"It's from a big book of rights and laws my d…dad gave me. He's a lawyer."

"Okay, that's great and all, but what kind of stupid law is that?!"

"It's from the Bill of Rights for…actually never mind~!" He smiled.

"For…?" Kurogane pleaded.

"I'm…well…just forget it~! It's nothing that you need to know about~!"

"Well now you've got me curious! You HAVE to tell me!" Normally, he would just brush this sort of thing off and move on, but as he was already irritated, this pushed him off the edge. He was so angry at the little blonde now that he was practically seething! _Why was he even still talking to him?_ He asked himself. The guy was an absolute idiot, what with his rambling about laws and his words of the day that he didn't even know the meanings of! Before he could argue with himself any longer about why he as still here though, he was cut off yet again by Fai.

"I won't tell you! I plead the fifth! Hyuu~!"

"Why you…you're not getting off THAT easily!" Kurogane called as Fai started to walk out the door to his own living room.

"Oh no! Kuro-rinjin seems to be mad at me! Whatever shall I do?" Fai cowered in the corner playfully, only pretending to be scared. In reality, he couldn't stop laughing long enough to say anything but "Wahh!" when Kurogane tackled him to the floor.

As he stood up, he said, "You know you're really annoying me right? If you weren't so scrawny I'd beat you up."

Fai, still laughing, attempted to rebuttal. "Aww, how s…sweet of y…you K…Kuro-chi~!"

"I thought I already told you! I'm not sweet, okay? And seriously, stop calling me those stupid names! And if you dare pull that first amendment again, I'll beat you up regardless of how scrawny you are!"

"Aww, you're no fun!"

"Tch. You honestly think I care what you think of me? I'm going back to my room to unpack before I beat you up. And don't you even think about coming through that door unless you're some kind of masochist!"

"…huh?"

"Unless you WANT to get beat up. You're not the only one that's 'smart' around here."

"Aww, Kuro-piko was jealous of my smarts~! How cute~!"

"I wasn't jealous and I'm not cute! Now GOODBYE!"

"Aww, leaving so soon Kurii? I wanted you to stay!!" Fai whined.

"Well, too bad. I'm outta here." He huffed as he shut the door. Once he was safely on the other side, he sighed heavily. Simultaneously, they both shrunk down on opposite sides of the door, unaware of what the other were doing, and sighed whispered, "That was the most fun I've had in a long time."

* * *

**A/N: So, whadda think? I hope you liked reading it! I wrote the first page or two in one night and then I got stuck at Fai's argument with Ashura for almost a week, but I think it turned out okay. On paper, this is 6 and a half pages front and back. I changed it a lot when I typed the final draft, so I hope it still sounds okay! **

**Reviews with CONSTRUCTIVE CRITICISM ONLY are appreciated, please don't just write a review to flame. Flaming and consructive criticism are COMPLETELY different, and don't think I won't report flaming. I will (flamers, you have now been warned. Flaming=reporting and constructive criticism=a big thanks) But here's some things you may have been confused about:**

**1.a "potentate", so you don't have to look it up, is (simply put) a king or ruler of some sort.**

**thing that Fai quoted from (I have the right to attend school free of verbal and physical harassment, and be assured that education, not survival, is what's most important. ) is something I found in my friends book of lists. It's taken off The Bill of Rights for Gay Students, no joke! With the series mood in mind, I found it laughable that Fai would have quoted from it. **

**3. a "masochist" is someone that likes to cause themselves pain.**

**4. For those of you not sure of the difference, any cussing, telling me that the story is crap, or anything along those lines is FLAMING. Suggestions (in a NICE way) of how I can make my story better is constrructive criticism. Oh, and don't correct my grammar. I've got spell check and (now) a friend who is going to help me with this. So, lay off the flaming. You have been warned.**

**EDIT: I've decided to turn this into my own story, with my own charecters and such! It's going to take quite some time though, becuase I have to explain them better and change some things. When I get at least one chapter done, I'll post the link. And for those of you who're intereseted, I've already drawn what they look like. Here's a link: .com/gallery/#Kade-and-Jayce If anyone can guess which anime charecter I used to design Kurogane's new hair (his new name is Jayce), you will have my deep and profound respect. I also used an anime charecter for Fai's new hair (new name=Kade), but he was a minor charecter so I doubt anyonewill recognize it. However, if anyone can successfully guess one or the other, there will be a prize (yay for prizes :D)! You can tell me what you want me to write about in my next oneshot for Alphabet Soup. So, good luck guys! :]**


	3. Chapter 2: Bittersweet

**A/N:** I've moved! This is turning out to be a rather long story (so far I think I'm going to need 7 chapters, possibly more), so I've taken little down and moved it to a whole new story~! Don't worry, alphabet soup is still up and running; I've got a ton of ideas for it! After this series is all said and done (Which mind you won't be for quite some time. I don't think I'll be finishing this until school starts. That's my deadline 'cuse things start to get hectic after that. I can no longer stay up 'till 5 am working on fanfics.),

I plan on writing a billion (actually 24 'cuse that's how many letters I'll have after I take out the miniseries and put up 'gowns') kurofai oneshots!

Now, about the actual story: It's finally done- chapter two of the miniseries! This one seems really fast paced and angsty to me, but I don't really care. I like it and it's really sweet. I apologize for the serious OOC-ness that is Kurogane. Fai is in character, but it's more like after Tokyo (AANNGGSSTT!!). Ah well, it's still awesomeness. It's really long too (19 ½ pages long on paper!), so be ready for a lot of stuff! So much happens, and you'll get to hear Fai's back-story finally as well (but you probably didn't care that much about it yet. Oh well, you're hearing his super-long, flashback-a-plenty monologue! XD) ENJOY!

Wait, before I start, I should explain what the word means. Bittersweet, for those of you who aren't sure, is defined by as 1.A woody vine of the genus _Celastrus,_ especially the North American species _C. scandens_ and the eastern Asian species _C. orbiculata,_ having small, round, yellow-orange fruits that open at maturity to expose red seeds. Also called _staff tree_. 2. A dark to deep reddish orange. 3. Bitter and sweet at the same time: _bittersweet chocolate._ 4. Producing or expressing a mixture of pain and pleasure(I'm using this one).

**Bittersweet**

Ashura laughed to himself, _that's the boy who's supposedly Fai's 'friend'? He sure doesn't sound like it. More like enemies if you asked him. But then again it's not like Fai would. _

Suddenly the bickering stopped, so Ashura figured that boy had _probably left. He strode into Fai's room, only to find Fai happily slouched against the closet door. Had the boy come from in there? Or gone in there? He was nowhere in sight. But if he was really in that closet, wouldn't he be screaming_? Ashura wondered. Before he could ask, Fai stopped him.

"A…Ashura! I th-thought y-you left…!" He exclaimed, his face turning from happiness to horror.

"I did. I heard you and that boy yelling while I was heading down to the cruise deck, so I came back up to see what the matter was. It was you and that boy, no?" Ashura replied with no emotion evident in his face.

"I don't want to talk to you," Fai said with a horribly cold tone in his voice.

"Well, I want to talk to _you_ about that boy," Ashura demanded, "How'd he get in here?"

"T-through t-that d-door," Fai stuttered, pointing to the door of which he was just sitting against with a shaky finger. Ashura walked over to open the door, but Fai jumped in front of him and blocked him.

"N-no! D-don't go in there!" He screeched. Ashura just shoved Fai to the ground. He started to open up the door, but stopped and instead turned to smack Fai.

"You honestly think that I'd do that? I don't care about your stupid 'friend'," He huffed, pushing Fai against the wall. "Who, by the way, will never truly be your friend." He then grabbed Fai by the shirt collar and pulled him up so he could look into his eyes. Pure terror and hatred for Ashura were imminent in his multicoloured eyes. Ashura just laughed, punched Fai in the stomach, and threw him across the room. He crashed onto the floor with a loud thud, and looked up at Ashura with the most pained, angry look on his face. Ashura just laughed to himself and left, leaving Fai to cry.

* * *

Even though he knew he was sure to get beat up by Kurogane for going into his room, he wanted some comfort. He also knew that Kurogane would definitely not offer him the usual type of comfort, but if he could have another lively argument that would do just as much justice for him. Fai really had too much fun teasing that boy, especially considering Kurogane seemed to hate him, and they'd only just met. _No, he was going to do this_, he told himself. He meekishly opened the door.

"K-Kuro-chuu?" He whispered. He didn't get an answer, so he traipsed into the room to see where Kurogane had gone. Once he was inside, he peered around the half-open door to see Kurogane sitting there in the living room. Was he watching TV? He walked out there cautiously to find him not watching TV, but talking to who appeared to be his mother. Kurogane saw him, and jumped up.

"I thought I told you to stay out of here!" He yelled.

His mom gasped in horror. "Wait!" She cried, "If you told him not to come in here, and he just came from the direction of the other room, that means you went in there earlier! I thought I told you to stay out of that room at all costs! What if you'd gotten kidnapped? What if…" she stopped abruptly, taking a look at who her son had so rudely intruded upon earlier. When she saw his face, she shrieked in joy, "Uwah! Kurogane darling, he's just so cute! What's your name, sweetie? You're so adorable! Can I dress you up?" By the end of her freak-out she was talking so fast they could barely understand her. She squealed in delight and ran over to Fai to hug him. She hugged him so hard she lifted him off the ground and made him gasp for air. She quickly let him go, and stared at him expectantly.

"M-my n-name's F-Fai ma'am," he stuttered, still in shock from her reaction to seeing him.

Kurogane was struck speechless as well. How could his mom actually like that stupid boy? Eventually, his mom broke the silence.

"Well then, Fai honey, why don't you come with me so I can pick out an outfit for you? Ooh I think I have something in mind!" She asked, holding a hand out to him. He reluctantly took it and followed her into her room.

"C'mon Kurogane sweetie, don't you want to see your friend after he's all dressed up?" She invited, motioning him into her room.

"No, I don't. He's not my friend anyways," he protested, but she drug him into the room against his will.

"Uh, mom? Did you ever think that since we're on vacation, you wouldn't have your stuff with you?" He pointed out.

"Silly Kurogane! I always bring all my things with me!" She chuckled, letting go of Fai and Kurogane to look through her already made outfits.

After a few mere seconds of rummaging, she pulled out a white, short sleeved turtleneck with light blue trim, blue belts with gold clasps and a long suit like tail coming off the back. Next she pulled out some long navy blue-almost to the point of being black-pants and matching knee length boots. Lastly, she pulled out some matching gloves that looked like they were long enough to cover his entire arm. She folded them nicely and handed them to Fai. He gasped in amazement.

"It's so beautiful Ms…umm I'm actually not sure what to call you!"

"Miss Tomoyo is fine," she said sweetly, "go and try it on."

"Okay!" Fai chirped excitedly, "Does Kuro-piko wanna help me?"

"You're eleven, you can dress yourself!" He grunted, but Fai drug him into the bathroom against his will. This seemed to be happening an awful lot lately.

"I wanted to talk to you," he whispered once they were in the room. When he leaned in, Kurogane noticed that he was bruised and had been crying.

"H-hey, what h-happened to y-you…?" Kurogane stammered.

"Oh, it's nothing!" He said suddenly, taken aback by the fact Kurogane had known something was wrong. He put on his best smile for Kurogane, hoping he believed him. He didn't want him running away just yet.

Kurogane frowned at him, "No, something's wrong. What happened?"

"I told you, it's nothing! Don't worry about me Kuro-wanko, please," he pleaded.

Kurogane frowned at him. He could tell Fai was lying through his teeth. "No, something's wrong. What happened to you?"

"I told you, it's nothing you need to worry about!" Fai begged, but Kurogane could see the hurt in his eyes.

"W-who s-said I was worried?" He quickly replied, jerking back. Fai just smirked at him.

"H-hey! W-what was that f-for?!"

"Oh, nothing. Just don't worry about me, okay?"

Kurogane could tell he wasn't going to get anything out of him right now, so he just sighed, "whatever."

* * *

Kurogane just stood there, getting absorbed in his thoughts of what could have possibly happened to the poor blonde, and still wondering where all those cuts and bruises could have came from when suddenly it hit him that Fai was just changing right there in front of him!

"U-uh…F-Fai…?" He stuttered.

"What?" Fai inquired, "We're both guys, and we're only eleven anyways, so what's the big deal? I mean, _I _don't care, but...oh my! What if it embarrasses Kuro-piko?" He gasped, covering his hand with his mouth and feigning serious shock.

"I…of course it does! I don't want to see you _change!_" He practically shouted, horrified. They'd just met and he was already acting this comfortable with him? Oh geez, he had some very weird things to look forward to if is what he acted like _now._

"Well, then, if you don't want to see I'd suggest you turned around very quickly!" He teased.

"What the…" Kurogane started to rebuttal, "B-but…you shouldn't have to take off your underwear to change into that!"

God he was stupid! If he had thought for about five seconds, he'd have realized that this really shouldn't have been a big deal. So, then why would Fai have told him to turn around?

He peeked over his shoulder to see exactly what Fai had meant, and when he did he was in complete and utter shock. There stood Fai, with the other outfit's pants on, but no shirt. He seriously couldn't believe his eyes. This wasn't at all what he was expecting.

What he saw was a very pale, very scrawny torso that was completely covered in bruises, scratches, and scars. Fai soon realized that Kurogane could see this, and he quickly turned around to pick up the outfit's shirt. When he did,

Kurogane could see that his back was also in pretty bad shape. He had thin horizontal welts and scars on his back, obviously from a belt or whip of some sort. He stood there, mouth agape, as Fai scrambled to put the shirt on and buckle it.

Once the shirt was safely on and the bruises and scars were covered up once again, Fai looked worriedly at the taller boy. "I thought I told you to turn around if you didn't want to see!" He gasped.

"And I thought you meant something else!"

"Silly Kuro-min, I don't have to take off my underwear to try this on!" He laughed.

"Well, I wasn't thinking. But that doesn't matter. What matters is what's wrong with you. Start talking," he demanded in a super-serious tone.

Fai just shook his head. "I don't wanna talk about it…" he started, but Kurogane shut him up by pinning him to the wall.

"Tell me, who did this to you?" He seethed, still pinning the scrawny Fai to the wall by his mere hands.

'Why do you care, Kuro-sama? I've only known you for a few hours now, and yet you care about me?" He asked, wriggling around to try and escape Kurogane. This was to no avail though; Kurogane's hands had more strength in them than Fai did in his whole body.

"I never said I cared about you! I just wanna know how you got so beat up!" He screeched, his cheeks turning very, very red.

"Oh, I believe you do care, Kurowan-wan. Webster's dictionary defines care the verb as feel anxiety…" He started, holding one finger in the air like a wise old man.

Kurogane interrupted him, "I don't feel any 'anxiety'- I just met you!"

"Hang on, I'm not done yet! feel interest…" the blonde said with an odd tone in his voice.

"I sure as heck ain't 'interested' in you!" He remarked, releasing two fingers of each hand to air quote the word 'interested'. His face was bright red by now.

If this idiot doesn't quit being weird and start talking about what's wrong with him soon, I'm going to hurt him very badly, Kurogane thought. I don't even care that he's already been beaten badly; he's still getting it.

"Heehee! have a liking, fondness, taste, or inclination…"

"I don't…I'm not…Oh, just shut up already!" He bellowed.

Fai was giggling like a schoolgirl. Apparently he was really enjoying this.

"Nope! Not 'till I'm all finished! give care to…ah, that doesn't quite fit, does it Kuro-puu?"

"None of them fit," Kurogane gritted.

"Hahaha, you're silly Kuro-chan. be concerned about."

"Are you finished?" He whined.

"Yup, I am now!" Fai grinned, "See, you're blushing! You do care! May I ask why though?" His tone changed from light-hearted and teasing to serious faster than

Kurogane could process his own thoughts. He was really too good at this tone-changing thing.

"Dude, anyone would 'care' if they saw a kid in as bad a shape as you are,"

Kurogane said, trying to shrug it off in hopes that would stop his blushing.

"No, you're wrong. Most people don't care when they find out. They just stare, horrified, and then just leave. I've tried making friends before, but they see that and never talk to me again 'cuse they don't want to get involved…" he trailed off, looking into space. He seemed as if he was trying his hardest to fight back tears. What cause someone to leave the poor boy in this state?

Kurogane deliberated. Oh yeah, he then realized, his annoying demeanor.

Even though Kurogane had only known the small boy for a matter of hours, he had still been a witness to both his annoying and serious side. For some reason, he suddenly wanted to protect him. He seemed like an innocent boy who'd never done anything wrong in his entire life, and although he was far from shy, he was still very fragile. Kurogane was beginning to see that Fai's happy face was a mere facade. Whoever had done this to him had scarred him not only physically, but emotionally too. He could see it in his face when he had said that just now.

Suddenly, he was just itching to find out who had done this so he could beat them up with his karate skills. "Who did this?" He demanded.

"Are you positive you want to know? It's not the best story, and I don't want to tell you if you're not ready…"

"Oh, I'm ready. Just…let's show this to my mom before she has a cow 'cuse she thinks we're dead or something.

"Okay!" Fai agreed happily, slapping on his happy face again, "but first, can you, er, let me down?"

"Oh, right," he said flatly, releasing his grip on Fai. He immediately ran to the door and burst through it, striking a supermodel pose.

"Miss Tomoyo! Lookie!" He squealed.

"Aww, aren't you the cutest thing? Isn't he cute Kurogane?" She asked, grinning from ear to ear.

"Tch. Like I'd know; why are you asking me?" He asked, embarrassed.

"Ahaha, silly Kurogane, because he's your friend! Isn't Kurogane adorable when he's flustered, Fai?" She asked, turning to Fai.

"Heehee, he sure is Miss Tomoyo!" He giggled gleefully, rushing over to pinch Kurogane's cheeks.

"Aww, look, he's blushing!" His mom cooed.

"Just shut up already!" Kurogane screamed.

"Oh, don't be so harsh! C'mere Fai!" His mom called, and Fai walked hesitantly over towards her. She picked him up and smothered him in a giant hug. "You're so cute and tiny Fai!" She said in a singsong voice.

Kurogane could see the blonde smiling, but it was a pained smile. Their conversation of just moments ago rushed back to him, and he pulled Fai out of his mother's grasp. He then grabbed his hand and proceeded to drag him into his room. He just had to know what was going on, and his mom was delaying it.

"Whee! Kuro-piko, where are we going?" Fai shrieked as Kurogane dragged him along.

"To my room, you idiot. You've got some major explaining to do. Mom, ya mind?"

"No, of course not sillies, have fun~!" She called out, waving. Geez, Kurogane thought, what does she think we're going to do in there? Wait, on second thought, he was almost positive he didn't want to know what she was thinking.

* * *

As soon as they were safely in the room, he sat Fai down on the bad and proceeded to sit opposite him. He crossed his arms over his chest.

"Start talking, kid." Was all he said.

"Well, would you like to know the whole story, from the beginning? Or would you just rather me tell you who did this?" Fai said softly.

Kurogane thought for a few moments before deciding. His answer shocked them both, "Tell me all of it. I-I want to help you. So maybe your past doesn't concern me at all, and I know I really shouldn't be asking, but please tell me." He declared, looking a bit ashamed of himself.

"Why do you look so embarrassed all of a sudden about that? There's nothing wrong with wanting to help someone, but I doubt that's what you'll want to do after hearing this. So, I'll only tell you if you promise not to hate me forever. If what you already saw didn't scare you away, then I don't want to lose you now." Kurogane could tell he was fighting tears. _Sheesh this kid cries a lot,_ was all he could think at the moment.

"I…I want to promise you, but I can't," he admitted, for he himself had no idea what this mysterious past of his was.

"Well, in that case, let me start off by telling you that earlier in my room was the most fun I've had in a very long time."

Kurogane was shocked. There was _no way_ he was going to tell Fai he had been thinking the exact same thing. So he just sat there like an idiot, not knowing what to say. Fai obviously caught that he wasn't going to reply, so he took a deep breath and started explaining.

"I think I told you that my name is really Yuui already, so I'll just start with the story. Fai, my twin bother, and I were as close as two people could be. We did everything together, and our parents spoiled us. We weren't exactly rich, but we lived in a pretty good-sized house and their jobs left them with more than enough money after paying the bills. While they were at work, we would stay with random family members. They really didn't like us much because, apparently, we were a 'handful'. They did let us stay at their houses while our parents were at work, but they always complained about it and didn't treat us very good.

This all changed, however, when we were only five years old. Both of our parents were killed in a car wreck. We were devastated, and none of our family members wanted to take in the 'troublesome two' as they called us, so we were sent to the orphanage. Why they called us the 'troublesome two' I will never know. I don't remember being bad, but I'm surprised I remember as much of this as I do. Anyways, we lived there for two years without a single person even asking about us. Then all of a sudden this man named Ashura came, specifically asking to see us. He seemed so nice, so we liked him. More likely than not, however, we just liked the thought of getting out of there. The very next day, he came back, and we heard rumors he wanted to adopt. We knew that meant us, so we got really excited. We both packed up what little we had, and sat excitedly on our bed.

While we were waiting for him to come in to get us, we fantasized together about what our new life would be like. This came to a stop when he entered the room and told us the cold, hard truth."

"What? That he was adopting someone else? How dare he!" Kurogane exclaimed, upset at the thought that they wouldn't get to live with this nice man. He was really getting into this story.

"No, that wasn't the issue. He was only going to adopt one of us. He asked us both who wanted to go with him, and I immediately screamed that I should go.

Fai, being the most humble and caring brother ever nodded in agreement with me.

'If it'll make you happy Yuui, then by all means go ahead.' I'd never seen him so upset, but I, being only seven and ignorant, jumped at this opportunity and ran out with Ashura giving myself about five seconds to say goodbye to Fai. I would regret this, but at the time all I could think about was leaving. I didn't even really think about the fact I was leaving him for good until a week later.

"_Hey, Ashura?"_

"_Yes, Yuui?"_

"_Do you think, possibly, that you could adopt Fai too? I'm lonely while you're out at work."_

"_No, Yuui, I'm sorry, but I can't."_

"_Why not?" I was thoroughly confused. How was I supposed to understand the troubles of adopting? _

"_Because I said so. Besides, one child is enough for me."_

"_Aww, pleasepleaseplease? With sugar on top?"_

"_NO." _

The next night we were watching the news, when I saw the thing that broke my heart into a million pieces. There had been a fire at the orphanage- the same one Fai was still at. I breathed a sigh of relief when they said that almost everyone got out alive, but my relief was short-lived. They then told us that three people had died- a boy and two nurses. The boy had gotten sick and was in the infirmary in the back with the two nurses and they hadn't been able to get out in time. There was only a front door, and the building was rather large. I was a little sad when I heard this, but I was devastated when they showed the boy's face. It was Fai," Fai told Kurogane, choking on the last words. In moments he began crying, and Kurogane shifted uneasily on the bed. He didn't know what to do- he was very uncomfortable watching people cry.

"I-it s-should h-have b-been m-m-me that d-died! I-it's all m-my f-fault! If I hadn't have been s-so selfish, he-he'd s-still b-be alive r-right n-now!" Fai managed to get out between sobs.

Instinctively, Kurogane pulled Fai into a tight hug. "Don't cry…it's…it's not your fault, okay? If it'd had been me, I'd have done the same thing. Anyways,

I'm sure your brother is very upset that you blame yourself for this. He's probably really happy wherever he is, and wants you to be happy too…" Even he was surprised by what he'd just said. Fai started to interject him, but

Kurogane stopped him, "Don't talk 'till you're okay again," he said sternly.

"O-one thing?" Fai asked sheepishly.

"Fine," Kurogane huffed.

"H-hold me t-'till I'm okay? P-please?" He whispered, still shaking and sobbing.

"Fine, just calm down quickly. I feel like an idiot," he muttered.

* * *

He sat there holding the sobbing, shaking Fai for an entire thirty minutes (he checked the clock periodically). Sometime during this half hour, he'd unknowingly started stroking Fai's hair softly, and Fai had nuzzled his head between Kurogane's neck and shoulder. Before today, Kurogane didn't know he possessed the power to act like such a sissy, but apparently he did.

He felt awfully awkward sitting like this, but he didn't move for two reasons. Fist of all, because moving would upset Fai even more, and he'd probably leave and not come back. As annoying as he was earlier, he didn't want him to leave now that he was finally beginning to understanding where he was coming from. Secondly, and he'd never tell this to anyone, but he almost sort of liked it. It's not like he was going to do this voluntarily any time soon, but it wasn't so horrible. This weirded him out though, so he planned on keeping this bit of information to himself.

Eventually, he heard the crying stop and felt him stop shaking.

"Are you okay now?" He asked as Fai pulled away from him. His eyes were bloodshot and his face was streaked with tears. Kurogane looked down at his shoulder to find it soaked. That boy had cried a lot!

"Yeah, I'm better," was all he said.

"Well, do you feel like continuing? You know you don't have to…" he with an unbelievably sweet tone in his voice. He seriously had no idea where this random sweetness was coming from. Kurogane was not sweet.

"No, I don't, but I will anyways. Unless you'd rather just leave now…" Kurogane slapped him for this.

"Neither one of us is leaving this room until _you_ finish your story. Even after that, we'll only be leaving to go get dinner or something. Now hurry up and finish," he huffed.

"Okay, well you know I blamed myself for Fai's death already, but that's not nearly the end. I asked Ashura to start calling me Fai, in remembrance of him, but he never did. He did enroll me in my school as Fai Flourite, however. That's not really too important though, so back to my, er, depression. I never smiled once from the moment I heard the news he was dead until one day at school when some girl asked me why I never smiled…

"_Hi, you're Fai right? I've seen you around and I've been meaning to ask you something!"_

"_I'm Fai…what did you need to ask me?"_

"_Well, I was just wondering why you never smiled. I see you a lot, but you're always frowning and seem very sad. I may be new here, but I've noticed you never seem to really talk to anyone. Maybe more people would like you if you smiled sometimes?"_

I tried my hardest then to give her a warm smile. I hadn't smiled in so long though, that it was harder than I had imagined. I managed to give her a small smile. She giggled and shook my hand.

"_That's more like it! My name's Sakura by the way. Maybe I'll see you around?"_

"_Yeah, see you."_

She was my first real friend. She taught me how to smile and be friendly-without her, I'd probably still be in a horrible depression. Well, it's not like I'm actually that happy all the time, but at least now I could pretend. Things were going great with her, for a while at least. I'll get to that later though, because the reason she stopped being my friend hadn't actually began at this point in time.

Anyways, I tried making other friends, but they all left shortly because I was 'weird'. Sakura and I never talked much, except when I saw her in the hallways, because she was in the grade below me. My guess is that was why she didn't leave- she rarely talked to me. So, because of my lack of friends to talk to, I spent my days studying the law books and dictionaries that Ashura had. He never bought me anything, not even for my birthday or Christmas. All he did was bring me home a cake on my birthday, because he said he didn't celebrate Christmas. Or any holiday for that matter.

One day I decided to ask him why he needed all these law books. Not that it really mattered to me, I was just happy there was something for me to do all day long. He told me that he was a lawyer, and that was the end of that conversation. He never talked about his job, but he was gone all day until about 9 at night. I'm actually a pretty fair cook now, because I was forced to cook myself dinner with whatever he had in the house. He never asked me what kind of food I liked; he just got what he wanted. On rare nights that he got home early or on the weekends, he would either make me cook or we'd go get fast food. He always used the same excuse when I asked if he would cook for me- I've had a long day- or –I just don't feel like it right now. I'll cook for you another day.

I could only assume that he had been telling the truth and was really a lawyer. That would explain why he got home late and went straight to his office to study those law books once he ate dinner. I had assumed wrong. One day, I heard the phone ring, so I picked it up. Ashura picked it up at the exact moment, causing him not to know I had also answered. I took advantage of this and listened in.

"_Yes Mr. Reed?"_

"_How's Yuui?" The voice at the other end answered. I choked at the mention of my real name, but stayed silent._

"_Fine." _

"_What? That's all I get? You know, this could have been much worse. They went easy on you."_

"_Psch, 'easy'? You try doing this and see how you like it. At least I'm not in jail though."_

"_Hey, at least you don't have two."_

"_True. It wasn't that hard to get out of though. You're a good lawyer though, so thanks."_

"_Anytime. Just remember not to let anyone find out about the other thing. That wouldn't be good. Try not to let Yuui find out either; I don't think he'd take it well."_

"_Don't worry, he's not that smart. I've got to go though."_

"_Where?"_

"_To do that other thing. I actually had to work over time today 'cuse the other thing took up most of my working day yesterday. They told me to come in after work, but I came home for a short while so Yuui could make me dinner. His cooking is so much better than fast food."_

"_See, he's useful for something at least."_

"_Two things Fei, two things. He's keeping me out of jail."_

"_Well, I know that-obviously. I am your lawyer. I'll let you go though, goodbye."_

"_G'bye." He replied quickly, and hung up the phone. _

I waited until he heard the click to hang up my phone. I stood there in shock for a few moments, not sure what I had just heard. I was so confused, but I really didn't want Ashura to know that I'd been listening so I didn't say anything. I did treat Ashura a little colder after that, though.

I wasn't confused for long though, because about a week later someone paid us a visit. I snooped on them too.

"_M-Mrs. Ichihara! What are you doing here?"_

"_What? Can't a judge come see how her…client…is doing?"_

"_Nice try. Really though, what do you want?"_

"_I want to know how little Yuui is doing! I hope you're treating him all right!"_

"_I've got Yuui and I'm taking care of him. That was the agreement right?"_

"_Yes, equal price for and equal crime. You killed his parents because you were speeding, so you had to do one thing for each life you took. You hate kids, so you had to adopt Yuui and Fai. It's too bad about the fire at the hotel though…"_

"_Yeah, yeah. I know. And I hate people in general so I have to volunteer after my regular job every day."_

"_Good, you remember. Now may I speak with Yuui?"_

"_No. I haven't told him about this, and I don't want him to know. How am I going to explain who you are?"_

"_Just tell him I'm your sister or something!"_

"_No. He's fine. You're not talking to him today."_

"_Fine, be that way Ashura. I'll be back to talk to him though!"_

After hearing that, I could barely breathe. I barely made it back to my room before I started bawling. All my questions had been answered, but that wasn't the answer I wanted to hear. The only reason he was keeping me was because he'd killed my parents? I was living with the same one that had taken them away from me? I hated him more than ever, and as soon as I calmed down enough I confronted him about it.

He got so angry when I told him that he shoved me against the wall. His anger was fueled by the fact that I'd found out why I was living here, and mine was fueled by the fact that I could get revenge on the one who'd taken my family away. He kept hitting me, but I fought back. In the end, he was much stronger than me, and he beat me up pretty bad. I probably should have gone to the hospital, but instead he just threw me against the wall and slammed the door. Ever since then, whenever I made him angry- or really- whenever he felt like it, he would beat me up. The only time I went to the hospital was when he broke my arm throwing me around. After that he didn't throw me as much because he hated hospital bills. Instead, he just punched me and whipped me with his belt," Fai sighed, "And that, is all there is to tell you. Oh, no, I take that back! I forgot about Sakura-chan!

Anyways, so one day after school she asked to come over to my house, and I said yes. This was after Ashura started beating me, by the way. I figured if she went home before he got back, there was no way he'd ever know. Everything was going great, that is, until Ashura showed up at home earlier than usual. I tried to sneak Sakura out the window, but he caught me. He beat me right there in front of her, and she was too scared to move. After Ashura left the room, I gave her a pained look, and she ran away screaming.

The next day at school, I tried going to talk to her, but she wasn't there. I asked the teacher where she was, and the teacher said she'd switched schools. I was crushed, and I didn't talk to anyone for a while. I tried being friendly with other people, but they still just blew me off…okay, _now_ I'm finished!"

Kurogane didn't know what to say first, so he chose, "Through all this, you never told anyone? How stupid!"

"No. I eventually decided that this was my punishment for choosing myself to go instead of Fai. Maybe if I'd have let him go, I wouldn't have gotten sick and we'd both be here now…"

Kurogane slapped him again. "You idiot! That doesn't deserve punishment! It's not your fault, and no one deserves to be hurt like that! Oh, except for that Ashura guy-I'm going to murder him when I see him."

"Don't!" Fai shrieked in horror.

"And why not? He's got no reason to live! He killed two people and scarred you emotionally and physically!"

"I'd feel that it was my fault. I told you about this so…" he started, but Kurogane slapped him a third time. It seemed to be the only way to get him to listen to him.

"Oi! Are you even listening to me? It wouldn't be your fault! So quit blaming yourself already!"

"But…" he started again, and Kurogane raised a hand to slap him yet again. Fai saw this and was silent.

"No. I'm telling my mom about this so she can call the police."

"Don't! Please!" Fai cried out, sobbing. "This is all wrong…you shouldn't care so much, Ashura told me that no one ever would…"

"Shut up already idiot, I care because that's inhumane. No one should be treated like that."

"I feel bad for making you do this for me. Can you at least wait until the morning to make sure you don't change your mind?"

"Fine, I guess that means you'll be sleeping here then. There's no way you're going back there after what I just heard.

Fai was too tired to argue, "okay."

Kurogane got up to ask his mom. He knew she'd say yes, and she did- very enthusiastically too. Fai didn't go back to his room to get anything; Kurogane wouldn't let him. Instead, he wore some or Kurogane's pajamas. They were rather large on him, being as he was so scrawny, but he didn't care.

Kurogane insisted on letting Fai sleep on his bed, because the floor was just fine with him. His mom however, just _had_ to point out the fact that the bed was queen-sized, and therefore they could both sleep on it. Kurogane didn't even want to argue, because he always lost in a battle with his mother. Fai happily agreed, and Kurogane just hmph-ed.

* * *

Once they were all ready for bed, his mom insisted on tucking them in. Kurogane knew it was because she just wanted to talk to Fai some more. He could tell she really loved him for some strange reason, and he could tell Fai wanted to, but couldn't. As soon as she left, he asked the little blonde about it.

"Oi, Fai?"

"Hmm, Kuro-chuu?"

"You know, my mom really likes you for some reason…"

"Yeah, why?"

"Well, then why do you seem so sad around her?"

"She…she acts a lot like my mom did," he said quietly, and Kurogane immediately regretted asking.

"Oh," was all he could manage. "I'm sorry," he whispered.

"No, really, it's okay," he assured Kurogane.

"You sure?"

"Yes," he confirmed, "but I'm sleepy, g'night Kuro-rin," he yawned sleepily.

"G'night."

They were silent for a few moments before Fai spoke again, "Hey, Kurokuro?"

"Yeah?"

"You haven't bothered me about the nicknames in a little while…"

"I know. I gave up. You're just gonna pull that stupid 'first amendment' thing again, so I'm not even gonna try."

"Oh, I'm sure that's the reason. 'Cuse it's _totally_ not like you actually, secretly _like _them or anything," he said sarcastically.

"For once, you've actually said something right. I'm impressed. Of course I hate them! Who would want to be called such girly names?" He said lightly, and was thankful it was dark so Fai couldn't see him blushing.

"You're so funny Kuro-chan! But I'm going to sleep now for real. Night."

"Whatever," he huffed.

* * *

Fai fell right asleep, but Kurogane was too busy processing Fai's story to sleep. Sometime during his thoughts, Fai had creeped over in his sleep and was lying up against Kurogane. The kid had had a long day, so he decided to let this go once and let him stay there.

He soon fell asleep as well, thinking about Fai. Little did he know that shortly after falling asleep he had wrapped an arm around Fai and slept the whole night like that. He also didn't know that Fai woke up in the middle of the night and saw this. He didn't hear him whisper, "thank you for not leaving," and he didn't feel him kiss the top of hi head. What he did know though, was that Ashura was going to jail and he was never going to let anyone hurt this poor, fragile boy again.

* * *

**A/N:** I'MFINALLYDONE! I'MFINALLYDONE! :D! You have no idea how long I've been working on this! I'm so glad to have it all over with. I apologize for Fai's lengthy monologue, but it had to be done.

This a quite a long chapter (nearly 7,000 words!) and I put a considerable amount of work into it, so maybe you could give me some long and thought out reviews? :]?

**EDIT: **I've got a playlist for this miniseries (zomg!)! It's not very many songs yet, but oh well. Here's a link: .com/playlist/17208273931 (if you cant use the link, tell me!) **SPOILER WARNING: The playlist has songs for the entire series so far (I'm up to 5 on paper, but up to 7 is on the playlist. There may be more than this)! Don't listen to it if you don't ant something to be spoiled! **


	4. Chapter 3: Debateable

**A/N:** I'm back with chapter 3 of the miniseries! I'm so happy 'cuse I finally found my old laptop! It doesn't have Internet, but I can use it to type when I'm up till four and five AM. It's also got something almost equal to Photoshop, so when I figure out how to put all the stuff from my flash drive on here (it's old, so there's no USB port either. However, my dad knows how to move the stuff to my actual comp.) I can use that too! *Is super excited* But anywhoo, let's move onto the story.

**Debatable**

Tomoyo sighed happily when she went to check on the boys. They were sleeping peacefully, Fai in Kurogane's arms. She didn't know why this made her so happy; she already knew that this was going to happen. Maybe she was just excited that this wasn't a dream like usual. She'd known about Fai before he was even born. He was the one she'd always dreamed about, and she'd seen his whole life nine months before it was actually going on. She already knew all about Ashura - or as much as Fai did, at least.

She had originally figured it was just some reoccurring dream, but it felt really real. It was like watching someone's life unfold before your eyes but you had no idea if it was reality, and even if it was you had no clue where it was going on. _Actually_, she thought, _that pretty much gets it down to a 'T'_. She hoped she hadn't gone overboard when she'd met him earlier - but seriously, how would you react if you were finally meeting a guy you dreamed of for twelve years? _Probably not very calmly_, she thought, _or maybe that's just me?_

She had thought about calling the police earlier, but decided to wait because she remembered that she'd find out from Kurogane tomorrow. She could wait one more day to give Fai what he deserved- Ashura in jail. She wasn't sure if he would go to jail or not, because after tonight in her dreams (which she actually dreamed nine months ago) Ashura didn't exist. She hoped that meant he got put in jail, but you never knew. At least Fai wasn't involved with him anymore; she could barely stand to watch that happen.

Oh, and him and Kurogane… wait, that hadn't happened yet! She slapped herself for mixing reality and her dreams again. It was easy to do, considering she already knew what was going to happen and when. She just didn't know where. So she knew that this was bound to happen eventually, and though it had freaked her out at first, she was okay with it now.

She sighed and pulled herself out of her thoughts, watching them sleep again. They looked so peaceful, laying there, Kurogane holding Fai tightly. She wondered if Kurogane was aware of this, or if it happened after they fell asleep. She didn't see every little detail, after all. (If she did she didn't remember all of them.)

Sighing again, she got up to get ready for bed herself. If either or both of them woke up and saw her there, they'd think she was weird.

She lay in bed for thirty minutes, to no avail. There was no way she could sleep now-she was too excited. She decided to get up and work on a new outfit for Fai to match one she'd already made for Kurogane.

--

After she found everything she needed, she pulled out the outfit he'd worn today for sizing and sorted through all her materials for things that complimented Kurogane's outfit and got to work.

She finished at five in the morning, and she sat back to admire her work. She was very pleased with what she saw- a very loose, off-the-shoulder teal sweater that would fall just above his belly button, with a black fishnet tank underneath. The white jeans came right under his knees, with a brown leather belt on either leg. There was a gold chain on the right side, and small black x's lined either side. For shoes, she used some of Kurogane's old converse. The whole thing was adorable, and complimented Kurogane's very well - if she did say so herself.

His outfit was a red long-sleeved shirt with a black fishnet tank over it. His pants were black capri jeans with white leather belts. His chain was silver, but his didn't have the small x's down the sides. The shoes were the same, though - he really loved converse shoes.

Looking at both of them next to each other, she couldn't help but squeal with delight. They were going to look so cute together when they put them on! _But it's not like they weren't cute now,_ she thought.

However, her happiness was soon overshadowed by her exhaustion, and she decided that she should get some sleep. She cleaned up her materials, and fell asleep with high hopes for tomorrow.

--

When Kurogane woke up, three things hit him at the same time, and he wasn't sure which one irritated him most. First of all, he'd slept with his arm around that idiot! He had no recollection of doing this, so he must've done it in his sleep. Secondly, that idiot had slept on his pillow, and drooled on it! Lastly, he was freezing because that moron had stolen his covers! He didn't care how 'fragile' Fai supposedly was- he was getting rudely awoken.

"Wake up you idiot!" he hissed, shaking Fai relentlessly. When Fai didn't move, Kurogane immediately concluded that Fai was a very deep sleeper. _Just one more thing I didn't need to know about this guy. I already know more than enough and I just met him yesterday!_

"Fai! Oi! Wake up already!" he called, a bit louder this time.

Again he didn't budge, and Kurogane was getting really annoyed. He leaned in to yell in his ear, but when he did Fai grabbed his collar, pulling him into a tight hug. This scared the living crap out of Kurogane, considering he'd thought Fai was asleep. He exploded in rage at the blonde. "WHY YOU LITTLE…" he started to shout, but he stopped when he noticed Fai was laughing. "What're you laughing at?" he sneered, rolling off of Fai. "You shouldn't have done that! I thought you were sound asleep!"

"I know," Fai squeaked, clutching his stomach, "but I wanted to see Kuro-kuro's reaction! I figured it would be cute, and I was right! Hyuu!"

"My reaction was a far cry from 'cute'. I'm already in a bad mood because you stole my covers, drooled on my pillow, and pretended to be asleep! How the heck is that cute?" he roared in anger and frustration at the little blonde. It really wasn't a good idea for him to be getting so angry so early, but he didn't care. This guy needed to be told what Kurogane would and would not allow. And what he did last night and this morning were all things on his not allowed list.

Fai laughed again, only succeeding in making him angrier. "Oi! This isn't funny! I'm not taking that crap from you. Oh yeah, and you slept this close to me last night," he pointed out, showing the distance with his fingers. "I ain't allowing that either."

Again, Fai burst into a fit of giggles, and this time Kurogane got so angry he nearly attacked Fai. He knew better though, so he just tackled him, praying it wasn't enough force to break anything, but just enough to hurt. "Why the heck do you keep laughing at me?!" he bellowed, his rage at full level by now.

"Hee hee! Silly Kurogane! Don't you know I woke up in the middle of the night last night and saw your arm around me, so I tried to scoot away, but when I did you pulled me closer?" Fai said nonchalantly, as if it was so blatantly obvious what had possessed him to do such a thing. "So really, it's all your fault!" he concluded, smiling a thousand-watt smile.

"What the…? I would never do such a thing!" Kurogane protested.

"Well, you obviously did," Fai pointed out.

"Tch. I was asleep so therefore it doesn't count," he huffed in response.

Fai rolled his eyes. "Ahaha, whatever you say Kuro-myuu…"

Before Kurogane had a chance to argue, his mom burst in looking as cheerful as ever. "Did you sleep well boys?"

"Like a baby Ms. Tomoyo!" Fai chirped.

"What about you, Kurogane dear?" she questioned sweetly.

"I had a horrible night. That idiot stole all the covers," Kurogane accused, pointing at Fai.

His mom just laughed and told them she was going to go get them some pancakes from the breakfast buffet. As she skipped off, Kurogane couldn't help but wonder if she knew she was still in her pajamas.

The moment she shut the door, Fai turned to Kurogane, wiping the smile clean off his face. It was a little bit creepy how he could just change his emotions like that_. I mean, I can snap pretty easily, but I've got a reason for that,_ Kurogane thought. Well, Fai had a reason too; he was probably just pretending to be happy. Again.

"So, do you still wanna tell her?" he inquired.

"Well, duh. She can call the police and take you down there. Your body is really all the proof we need, isn't it? Unless you really don't want to - well actually, I take that back-you're doing this whether you want to or not."

Fai sighed. "I know. I've wanted to do this for nearly four years now, ever since he started beating me regularly. I just never did it because I felt it was rightful punishment for what I did to Fai."

Kurogane started to yell at him again for basically thinking he was worthless when Fai shushed him, putting a finger to Kurogane's lips. "Shh, I know what you were about to say. I know better now," he said softly, his tone changing yet again from serious to caring. He stroked Kurogane's cheek, leaned in and whispered, "Thanks to you," in his ear. He then pulled his finger away and sat back on his elbows.

"H-hey… it… it's no big deal, okay?" Kurogane stuttered, fighting off a blush.

"No, I meant that sincerely. You listened to my entire past and cared enough to get help, which is more than I can say for anyone else." Fai smiled, and this time it was definitely, without a doubt a real smile.

"I'm telling her at breakfast," was all he said.

Of course, his mom chose this exact moment to bust in the room carrying some giant plates of pancakes. "Let's eat!" she exclaimed.

After they'd gotten settled, Kurogane spoke up.

"Mom, we need your help," he pleaded. Tomoyo decided it was best to go along, even if that meant listening to Fai's tragic tale again. She wasn't about to tell them that she already knew, because she wanted to keep her future-telling skills to herself.

It took him over an hour, but Kurogane told his mother about Fai's entire past while Fai sat there crying. Kurogane didn't seem to care that much while he was telling the story, as he wanted to just get it over with, but afterwards he rushed over to Fai to calm him down and reassure him everything was okay. As he did this, Tomoyo called the police on her cell phone.

Once she had left the room to talk to them, Fai looked up with watery eyes at Kurogane, who was kneeling on the floor in front of Fai. "I'm sc-scared Kuro-chuu," he whispered.

Kurogane wasn't the best at comforting people, so he figured all he could do was what he did yesterday-hold him till he stopped crying. As embarrassing as that was, sitting there opposite a bawling Fai was much, much worse. He had to pick the lesser of the two evils at this point, so he scooped up Fai in his arms and carried him into his room. He was thankful Fai was light as a feather. He was strong, but not that strong.

--

He changed first, and after he was done he held Fai for about ten more minutes. He calmed down enough after that that he could change himself. Kurogane thanked God for that, because there was not enough money on earth that would make him want to change Fai himself. After they were ready, they headed down to the police station that was in the lowest deck of the ship.

It took quite some time to explain all of this to the police, mostly because they naturally had to ask questions. They asked for proof of the abuse, and Fai sighed as he slid off his shirt. Three things fell at once- the shirt, the policemen's jaws, and their clipboards. The clipboards hit the floor with a clank, and they just stared dumbfounded for several moments. They pulled themselves together after about thirty awkward seconds and picked up the clipboards. They told Fai that was all the proof they needed, and told him to put his shirt back on.

"Thank you. We've also checked the records and what you said about Ashura being forced to take you in by court orders is true. We'll call him in for investigation after you leave, and then we shall contact you."

Everyone just nodded in agreement and went back up to the room. Tomoyo let Fai and Kurogane go to his room while she sat eagerly by her cell, waiting for the call.

"I can't believe it. He's probably going to jail. I really did it. I made a friend who cares about me despite the horrible thing I did to my brother."

"Shut up. It wasn't horrible. I thought we already covered this! Plus, it's not 'despite what you did'; it's because of it. Ya know if you'd have lived a normal life, I wouldn't have put up with you as long as I have, right?" Kurogane pointed out.

"Really? So you do care!" Fai squealed.

"No! I - oh, just forget it. Of course I care! Would I have told my mom your story or let you stay here if I didn't care? That's not to say I still don't think you're annoying as heck," Kurogane confessed, blushing deeply.

"Aww! Yay!" Fai squealed with excitement, throwing his arms around Kurogane. Nuzzling his neck, he squealed some more, "I'm so happy to have made a friend you don't even know!"

"Actually, I do know. I've never really had any friends either," Kurogane mumbled so quietly he wasn't even sure if Fai heard.

"No way! So Kuro-sama's just like me?" Fai inquired, pushing himself away to look at Kurogane and cocking his head to the side quizzically.

"I am in no way whatsoever like you. End of story," he said flatly.

They sat there for a few moments, when Fai suddenly realized his hands were still on Kurogane's shoulders. He hurriedly put his hands back by his sides, and both of them blushed.

"K…Kuro-pii?" Fai said eventually.

"What?" Kurogane said with a scowl.

"If this goes through, I have no clue what I'm going to do. My family hates me for what I did; they think I'm evil. I don't have any friends back in Washington either…" he started uneasily, but Kurogane slapped him. "Ow! What was that for Kuro-min?"

"You are truly an idiot. Here I was just moments ago, telling you that I cared about your well-being, and you're going off saying you've got nowhere to go?!" he shouted.

"Y-yes…?" Fai stammered, and Kurogane slapped him again.

"Geez, how dense are you? You're staying with us. End of story."

Fai's face lit up at the idea, and he nearly started crying all over again. It was almost like when he was adopted from the orphanage, but this time the one saving him didn't have ulterior motives. He knew he'd be happy. _But_, he thought, _I really shouldn't be thinking this far into the future, who knows how long the court sessions and such will take, and they might not even let me live with him. I don't want to go back to the orphanage!_

He decided not to worry about that now though, and he let himself fantasize about living at Kurogane's house. Not just in a dirty way either, but just the fact of being able to live with someone who didn't hate him completely. A place where he wouldn't get beaten daily, just maybe slapped by Kurogane. Kurogane may act like it, but he didn't completely hate Fai. What he was really feeling, Fai couldn't tell, but he knew what he hoped for.

Kurogane couldn't believe he'd just basically agreed to let that idiot live with him! _I mean, the case is probably gonna go through. Ashura's got no alibi._

He started thinking of what living with Fai would be like. Once things weren't so horribly angsty, Fai would probably be like he was when they first met, but for real this time. Oh geez, he thought, this was going to be pure torture. Even though he might possibly have had fun with that argument, it's not like he'd wanna do that sort of thing all the time. It would wear him out! But, he realized, I promised myself I'd protect him. That means sticking with him all the time! For the sole reason of keeping him away from harm though, he reminded himself.

He couldn't help but feel that the need to protect Fai was more than what he had told himself. It was the simple fact that he was just trying to be a good person and because after what he'd witnessed as a kid he was willing to protect the people he… He stopped when he realized how he'd intended to finish that thought. It was true that after the thing with his dad happened, he swore to protect his mom because he loved her and didn't want to see her suffer.

He also promised to protect anyone else he ever got close enough to to love, but he never did actually care about anyone else besides his mom and himself. Did he really feel that way about Fai? He'd only known him for about twenty-four hours, so that wasn't possible. Right? Plus, he snickered, Fai was a moron. He didn't love him! He didn't really even love him as a friend; he just…hated seeing people get hurt. Yeah, that's it, he told himself. I don't want him to be hurt. I care about him like any normal human being would.

Although, he considered, if he didn't really care about him would he have done what he did? Would he have held him while he cried? Would he have let him sleep that close to him? Would he have been patient with him and not beat him up? Would he have gone to his mom to get help? Would he have stuck around him this long? Would he have let him stay at his hotel, or agree to let him move in with him? No, he wouldn't have, he realized. Had he really only cared about him like he would any other strange; he'd probably just have beaten up Ashura, told Fai to do something about it and left. He might have called the police and told them to look into that case, but he surely wouldn't have done anything else. So, he must really care about Fai. He surely didn't love him, but he did really care and wanted to protect him at all costs.

"YES!" He heard his mom scream, and he was jerked out of his argument with himself. He and Fai ran to see what was going on, and when he got out to the living room he almost wished he hadn't. Tomoyo was doing a happy dance in the middle of the room.

"Mom, what's so great it made you do your happy dance?"

"The police! Fai honey, Ashura's been questioned and they believe us fully now! He didn't confess, but his body language suggested he was lying. Once the cruise is over in six days, we'll be heading to Washington to have the trial!" She squealed in excitement, clapping and jumping up and down.

Kurogane immediately blurted out, "That's so far away from Ohio though! Are we not going?"

"Oh, we're going for sure. If things go okay then I'm going to ask for them to allow us to let Fai stay with us," she assured him.

Fai shrieked in joy, and threw his arms over Kurogane's shoulders, nuzzling his neck.

"Hyuu, hyuu! Kuro-won it's going to happen! I'm almost certainly getting out of there for good!" He squealed in delight.

As he stood there, being squeezed by Fai, it hit him he didn't actually hate it. _Who am I kidding_, he _thought, I totally love him_.

--

A/N: So, how'd ya like that one? It's a lot shorter than bittersweet (this ones only about 3,500 words), but I liked it still! 'Specially cuse Kurogane got to do my libra thought process (I debate just about everything this way XD)!!

RRRREEEVVVIIIEEEWWWSSS!!!


	5. Chapter 4: Confession

**A/N: Moving on to chapter 4! I don't have much to say (it's a miracle, I know) this time besides for the fact that this chapter takes up 24 notebook pages. TWENTY-FOUR. Just saying.**

**Also, if you read the chapter title (and if you didn't, you should. It's a few lines down xD) you can probably guess what's going to happen in this chapter. I'm pretty sure you're guessing right too, but oh well. o__o **

**Confession**

Later that night while they were sitting in Kurogane's room, Fai suddenly asked him a question.

"Kuro-tan? I feel bad for causing you and your mom so much trouble. I've been so inconsiderate. I made you hear about my whole life, and you've barely told me anything about you. So, since we've got time now, what was your childhood like? I mean, I know we're still children, but you get what I mean," Fai asked sweetly.

Kurogane was taken aback by this, "Fist off, it's not trouble to either of us, and you're not being inconsiderate! Secondly, why do you care about my life?" He snorted.

"Because, Kuro-la, you cared about mine._ You_ made _me_ tell _you_, so now _I'm_ making _you _tell _me_. Fair is fair," he said coolly.

"Fine, it's boring though, so don't expect too much," he sighed and began his story. "I mostly lived your average childhood up until I was five. I was walking home from kindergarten with my dad one day, because his car was in the shop and we only lived about four city blocks away from school. We were waiting for the crossing guard to give us the 'okay' to cross the street, and when she did we started walking across like we should have. I wasn't paying attention, and just ran to the other side 'cuse I couldn't wait to get home. My dad was tired from work and was trudging across at a snail's pace.

A strong wind blew just then and the stop sign the crossing guard was holding blew across the street. I laughed at her running after it, but I wasn't laughing for long. The car wasn't paying attention, didn't see the crossing guard running across the street into a yard, and just kept going. My dad was still halfway across the street, and I could tell what was going to happen, and I was too scared to yell.

I watched him get hit, and when he didn't budge an inch, I knew he'd been killed on the spot. The man in the car bounded out of the car to check his pulse, and moments later he hurriedly dug out a cell phone- I'm guessing to call 9-1-1. As I watched the scene unfold, I collapsed to the ground, to scared and shocked to even cry. I think I passed out when I fell, 'cuse the next thing I remember I was lying in my bed with my mom sitting next to me in tears.

I really don't remember much else about that week except for a lot of crying and the fact my mom made me take my father's name in memory of him. That week was the only time I've ever cried, and by the funeral I couldn't cry anymore. Instead of being depressed about it, I started getting angry all the time. I'd beat up people at school, and snap at my mom when I didn't mean to. My mom hated this, so one day she took me to a karate class to get my anger out. I loved it, and have been training to become a ninja since then. It became my life, and I never talked to anyone or attempted to make friends.

I was fine with this though, until my mom decided that it was 'bad for me' and tried to find me a friend. She failed 'cuse I scared 'em all off. I would still be like that too if she hadn't have dragged me along on this stupid cruise!" He exclaimed. _Wow_, he thought, _my life is more boring than I remembered. _

He glanced over to see what Fai thought about this only to find him sobbing. Kurogane rushed over to him, wondering why he was crying.

"What's wrong?" He asked in a surprisingly sweet tone.

"I…I had n-no idea that Kuro-puu had such a s-sad thing happen t-to him!" He sobbed.

"You shouldn't worry about me, really. I like my life now, so it's okay. And don't be upset 'cuse I lost my dad. Your life was much worse, so just…don't, okay?" He comforted, and Fai scooted over to Kurogane to hug him.

"That doesn't change the fact we've _both _had bad things happen to us. After this deal is over, hopefully we can leave all that behind and start over. I'd like to be happy for real, and you'd like to stop being such a sour puss, no?"

"Tch. Like I'd wanna ruin my tough guy image by being_ sweet_. Plus, I only act angry when I am in fact, angry. So I can't change that," he retorted.

"Oh no, not quite Kuro-rin. You get defensive and angry when you're flustered or embarrassed!" He giggled.

"I-I do _not_!" Kurogane insisted, blushing like a maniac.

"See? There you go again!" He laughed some more, poking Kurogane's blushing cheek, "but I wouldn't worry about changing it, it's cute!" He chirped.

"I'm. Not. Cute." Kurogane punctuated, gritting his teeth.

"Ahaha, quite the contrary Kuro-sama! Let me define cute for you: , shrewd. That's only if you're going for 'acute' though. attractive, pretty. I'm going for the former of the latter. I'm almost positive everyone in Ohio has a secret crush on you!" He squeaked.

Kurogane sat there in shock for a few moments before snapping back to reality. "They do _not_!" He protested, "everyone's afraid of me, and I'd like to keep it that way. I really don't want a bunch of girls chasing me around all day!"

"Aw, just think of how embarrassed you'd be! Unless, of course, you'd hate it for _other_ reasons," Fai added.

"What 'other reasons'…?" Kurogane asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Oh! Umm…er…it's…it's nothing! Hehe…" he laughed nervously. Kurogane started to protest, but all of a sudden he knew what Fai had meant. He blushed and sighed. He figured he'd save the idiot some embarrassment.

"Whatever, I don't care anymore. I'm too tired to fight you- we've both had a long day. Let's get some sleep?" He suggested.

Fai agreed, and even though it was only nine thirty, they got ready for bed. They both fell asleep the moment they hit their pillow.

--

Tomoyo decided to watch them as them as they slept, but she prayed the whole time they wouldn't notice her there. She couldn't help but watch though; she thought it was so cute the way they slept. Not long after they'd both fallen asleep Kurogane had pulled Fai close to him so he could hold him in his sleep. She honestly couldn't believe that those two were being so oblivious. They obviously loved each other very much, but Kurogane was too stubborn to admit it.

She honestly considered waking them up right about now, but decided against it. She really didn't feel like enduring her son's wrath. So, instead she just sighed and decided to just go to bed.

"Sweet dreams," she whispered as she started to get up, but she caught her skirt on the heel of her shoe and crashed to the floor. She wasn't hurt, so she scrambled quickly to her room, almost positive that they were awake now. _That wasn't actually too bad if it woke them up, _she thought.

--

Kurogane and Fai woke up simultaneously to a loud thud. Before he even had the change to think about what had made that noise, he realized something. Apparently Fai did too because they both gasped. Kurogane had somehow wound up holding that idiot again! As embarrassed as he was, he didn't move. Neither did Fai.

"Umm, Fai…did you do this?" Kurogane asked.

"Umm, Kuro-pii, did _you_ do this?" He rebuttled, "'Cuse I sure didn't. You must have done it in your sleep. But if you mind it as it seems, you know you can always move," he reminded him.

"Yeah, I-I know," Kurogane said, but made no attempt to move.

After a few minutes of awkward silence, Fai came to a conclusion, "I get it."

"Get what, moron?"

"Nothing Kuro-wanwan. I'm tired though, so I'm going back to sleep. Move if you want," he shrugged.

Kurogane blushed, and decided to try sleeping again because it was much better than having to think about what he'd just done.

After both of them were asleep again, they didn't wake up again until morning and neither one budged an inch.

--

Today, Fai woke up first, and he immediately noticed he was still safe in Kurogane's arms. He reached up to stroke his cheek, and the moment he did the dark haired boy's eyes shot open. Fai put his hand down shyly- it was _his_ turn to blush now.

"Tch. I ought to make fun of you for that, seeing as you always tease me about it, but I really don't feel like it," Kurogane pointed out to the blonde.

"Thank you Kuro-kuro," he whispered.

"For what. Not teasing you?"

"No silly! For not moving last night!" Fai chirped, and Kurogane's face flushed as he stumbled for a reply.

"I…I was t-too t-tired!" He finally spat out, "It's…it's no big deal anyways."

Fai could tell that was Kurogane speak for 'you're welcome'. He just smiled at the dark haired boy and rolled over so he could sit up and stretch. Kurogane did the same.

Tomoyo chose this moment to burst into the room with two platefuls of food and a lot of clothes. Kurogane suddenly had a very bad feeling about this.

"Eat up you two! I've got plans for today!" She chirped a little too happily for this early in the morning.

Well, to be honest, Kurogane had no idea what time it was. He glanced over at the clock, which read one pm. They'd gone to sleep at nine thirty, so that meant they'd slept fifteen and a half hours! He hated his mom for letting them sleep so long.

When he started to, however, he was stopped by the realization of how hungry he was. He eyed the food, and his stomach growled _very_ loudly. He tried to remember the last time they ate. _Let's see, _he thought, _we ate after we got back from the police station at six thirty, and it's one pm now so that's…almost twenty hours! No wonder I'm hungry! _

He climbed out of bed to grab the food from his mom. They both had eggs and bacon on them. He handed one to Fai and started chowing down on his own. Tomoyo waited patiently while they ate, but once they had both finished she clapped her hands together excitedly and started to tell them what her plans were. First though, she tossed the clothes to them.

"Okay, I'll leave while you two put those on. Call me when you're done and I'll come back in to tell you what's going on today!" She sang as she strolled out of the room. They gave her a suspicious look, but shrugged and changed. Kurogane made Fai change in the bathroom, while he changed in his room.

Fai hovered outside Kurogane's door, not wanting to barge in on him. They both ran into the room when they heard him scream though.

"I look so stupid!" He yelled.

Tomoyo and Fai both looked at him and replied at the same time, "No you don't! You're adorable!"

"I am _not_ 'adorable'," he growled.

"You are though! What about me?" Fai blinked and stuck a pose.

_What a weirdo, _Kurogane thought on the surface. Underneath that, he was thinking how cute Fai looked, and he smacked himself for thinking such a thing. So what if he knew he loved him? He wasn't about to turn into a sissy over it! His face flushed as he tried to think of what to say. Thankfully his mom intervened.

"Fai darling, you look so cute!" She squealed, hugging him so hard he coughed. "Sorry," she whispered, "I got carried away again. But that's not my point. I made these outfits for you two to wear today.

"Why?" They both asked at the same time. Fai pinched him, singing, "Pinch, poke, you owe me a coke!" Kurogane just rolled his eyes.

"Ahaha Fai you're so adorable! Ooh but I'm getting away from the subject! The reason you're dressed so cute is because you two are going out today!" She exclaimed happily.

"Going…where?" Kurogane asked, obviously not understanding.

"Ahaha Kurogane dear you're so funny! That's not quite what I meant. Let me rephrase this- I'm sending you two on a date!" She laughed.

"A what now?" Kurogane gawked, "Like heck I'd go on a date with this idiot!"

"Wah! I'm hurt Kuro-tan!" Fai whined.

"Be nice to him!" Tomoyo gasped, rushing over to give Fai another bone crushing hug. "he's fragile!"

"Uhh, mom? I'm pretty sure I could say the same to you considering you're squeezing him to death. Also, this has nothing to with him being fragile! It's just that I don't wanna go on a date with him!"

"C'mon, pretty please Kuro-rinta? It'll be fun!" He tried as he shrugged off Tomoyo to take Kurogane's hand, "do it for me? It'd make me very happy."

"It's doubly as annoying but much better than listening to you cry, so whatever," he shrugged, trying to appear as if he didn't care one way or the other. Fai understood this to be another one of his lies. If his bright red face was anything to judge by, he was actually looking forward to this.

"Thank you Kuro-chi!" He smiled, and used the hand he was holding to jerk Kurogane into a hug. Tomoyo crept out of the room, thinking _my work here is done._

For once, Kurogane wrapped his arms around the slender blonde's waist, hugging him back. This made Fai gasp at first, but then he left himself fall onto Kurogane.

"Oof!" He called out. He'd fallen too hard and pushed them both to the floor. They both flushed and scrambled away. When he stood up, he could tell Kurogane was looking rather annoyed.

"You idiot! Don't go doing weird things like that!"

"S-sorry K-Kuro-sama…" Fai said meekishly.

"Whatever, now let's get going so we can get this over with. I'll go with you, but I ain't doing weird crap and I'm definitely not gonna enjoy this," he huffed.

"Okay, whatever Kuro-chuu says…"

--

"So, uhh, what're we gonna do?" Kurogane asked sheepishly, running a hand through his hair.

"Ooh, maybe we could go to the crafts room?" Fai suggested.

"There is no way I'm gonna make some sissy little craft," he refused.

"Uh, bingo?" He read off the activities list.

"No. That's for old ladies," he protested.

"Ooh! I know, I know! How about _shuffleboard_?" Fai gasped, clearly very excited about that.

"I have no idea what that even is. So…no. How do you know that game anyways?" He asked, almost not wanting to know the answer.

Fai started to tell him, but decided against it. He really didn't think Kurogane needed to know that Fai had played it all the time with the old people in the retirement home that was next to the orphanage.

"Well, then you decide mister sour pants!" He said instead.

"Ok, then we're going to the video game arcade!" He told Fai, and they ran to where the sign told them. Well, Kurogane ran and dragged Fai along behind him.

When they got there, his jaw dropped in horror as they read the sign. It read: _closed for repairs_.

"Don't look so crushed Kuro-ron! We can still go to a movie can't we?" He comforted, putting his arm on Kurogane's shoulder. In response, Kurogane gasped and stared at his shoulder. His immediate reaction was to back away, but he just flinched at the sudden contact. He could feel his cheeks turning pink. Fai poked his cheek, giggling like a first grader.

"Seriously Kuro-pii, if _that_ made you blush so badly, what'll happen if I do _this_?" He asked naively, pulling Kurogane into a soft embrace and resting his head on the taller boy's shoulder, "hmm?"

Kurogane knew his face was turning every shade of red imaginable. He wasn't sure why though, I mean, after these past few day's events, this was nothing. Fai spontaneously hugged him a lot, but this was different somehow. He couldn't place his finger on what it was though. Possibly because he wasn't hugging him in excitement, and it was more of a…er…'loving embrace' than just a hug.

"Y-you idiot! We're in _public_!" Kurogane whisper-yelled in Fai's ear, horrified.

"So? We _are_ on a date after all," Fai said flirtatiously, winking at Kurogane.

"J-just 'cuse my mom said that doesn't mean we _are_!" He exploded, pushing Fai away.

He was silent for a few moments while he stared at the floor. When he looked up at Fai, he could tell he was sincerely hurt at what he'd just yelled to him. _Geez I'm so stupid, _Kurogane thought, _why do I keep pushing him away and yelling at him He obviously likes me a lot, and I just keep pushing him away._ The only thing he could venture was that he was too embarrassed to admit to Fai he felt the same way.

"Ah, umm, I guess this isn't a date then. Sorry Kuro-rin. I didn't mean to upset you," Fai muttered, hanging his head in shame. _Great, _Kurogane thought, _now he's making me feel like a lowlife scum. _"Maybe we should just go back? You're not having any fun," he finally sighed. This shocked Kurogane, for he had never seen him look so upset, not even when he was telling him his story.

Fai started to walk away, but Kurogane grabbed him by the arm to stop him.

"No, we're going to the movies," he insisted, "I refuse to see you so depressed."

All of a sudden Fai was very lost, "who's depressed?" He asked, cocking his head to the side in a questioning manner.

"You! Weren't you just sulking over there?" Kurogane was almost positive Fai had some mental issue. No one changed emotions that fas-oh no. He wasn't depressed at all. He was acting again. _Oh, he's getting it now._

"You were just pretending so we'd go to the movies, right? And don't lie to me!" He accused.

"You caught me!" He admitted, throwing his hands in the air.

"You better run, you little…" he roared, and Fai bolted off with Kurogane at his heels. He was surprised that Fai could run so fast, but Kurogane was still much faster. He caught him in mere seconds.

When he reached Fai, he tackled him to the ground. Sitting on his ribcage, he demanded, "Don't you _ever_ do that again, okay?"

"I-I w-won't! J-just g-get o-off m-me, p-please!" Fai could barely breathe, as Kurogane was choking him. He was by no means large, but muscle weighs more than fat. Plus, Fai was tiny.

Kurogane rolled off the small boy and helped him stand up. When he did, he realized Fai had led them to the movie theatre doors.

"Heck, let's go ahead and watch a movie. My mom gave us money anyways, and I'm guessing you led us here on purpose," he sighed, giving in to Fai.

"Yippee!" Fai squealed as they looked at the list of movies playing. A little kid movie, a chick flick, a scary movie, and one they had a feeling people their age shouldn't see. With these choices, Kurogane made his decision very quickly.

"We're seeing the scary movie. I refuse to see any of the others, besides, I'm gonna have to watch one anyways so it should be one I might actually enjoy," he told Fai.

"Well, I don't really care as long as I can watch it with you Kuro-la," Fai smiled, "but I'm warning you, I get scared very easily."

"Tch. Don't be a baby," he said to Fai then turned to the lady working the ticket booth. "Two tickets to that movie please," he asked as politely as he could, pointing to the sign with the scary movie on it.

He paid, she handed him the tickets and change, and he counted the leftover money. They had enough for popcorn and two sodas, so they bought that and headed to the theatre. They walked in just as the movie was about to start.

--

The movie was just getting to the good part, in Kurogane's opinion at least, when Fai started acting weird. Weirder than normal, that is. Before, he would jump when the scary music started playing, but now he was screaming, crying, and flailing around all at the same time. Kurogane didn't want to b kicked out, so he motioned for Fai to come sit in his seat with him. Maybe if he were holding him he wouldn't yell so much. At least it was dark in the theatre.

It actually worked, well, it sort of did. He wasn't screaming, but he still jumped and squeezed Kurogane's hand when it was kind of scary. When it was at its scariest, he buried his face in Kurogane's shoulder so he didn't have to watch. He _really_ wasn't lying when he said he got scared easily.

Kurogane didn't mind this that much, except for the fact it was distracting. His mind kept wandering off the movie and on to Fai, but it was okay because the movie wasn't even that great in the first place. Still, he was a slight bit disappointed when it was over for multiple reasons. First of all, because now he'd have to own up to what he'd done during the movie. Secondly, because he'd be going back to his mom now, and he didn't want to deal with her just yet. And lastly, something inside of him was torn by the fact he had to let go of Fai. He was shocked that this thought belonged to him.

Fai spoke first. "You know, you didn't have to do that, right?" He asked, still in Kurogane's lap.

"Yes."

"Okay, good. Just checking. So why'd ya do it then?" He questioned him even though he already knew the answer.

"'Cuse I didn't wanna be kicked out, that's why. You were flailing, yelling, and crying!" He rolled his eyes, but he was blushing.

That wasn't exactly what Fai was expecting, but he hoped Kurogane would tell him soon. He was being painfully obvious, but he was just too stubborn to admit it.

The little blonde sighed and wriggled out from Kurogane's grasp, starting to walk out of the theatre. Kurogane joined him, and they walked the whole way back in silence.

--

"Ooh! You're back!" Tomoyo squeaked, "What did you do?"

"Nothing," Kurogane said flatly, "We saw a movie and came back."

"My, my, that sounds too boring to be true! Fai darling, would you care to explain better?"

"Sure!" He exclaimed, "First we went to play video games, but it was closed so then we decided to go see a movie! Kurogane didn't want to, but I convinced him! We saw some scary movie, and I got really afraid but Kurogane-" he started to tell her, but Kurogane interrupted.

"But, I wasn't scared at all," he said, preventing Fai from saying what he was about to.

"Yep, he wasn't! I don't see how though, it was pretty scary. Anyways though, after that we came back here! That's really it!" He finished, catching Kurogane's drift.

"Well, it sounds like you two had fun! I'm going to the spa now because I'm finished making an outfit someone ordered before we came here. Will you be okay here?" She asked them.

"Yes, Ms. Tomoyo, we'll be fine! Have fun!" He assured her, and she grabbed her purse to leave.

Once the door was shut, Kurogane turned to Fai and took a deep breath. _That's it. Inhale, exhale- you can do this_, he thought.

"Umm, Fai?" He started shakily.

"What is it Kuro-min?" Fai questioned, leaning in towards Kurogane.

"I…uh…about today…about this week," he stammered on.

"Yes? What about it? You can tell me," Fai tried to say as calmly as he could, attempting his best shot at hiding his excitement.

"I can't do this," Kurogane shook his head.

"Do _what_? It cannot be as hard as you're making it!"

"I…I…I…"

"Spit it out Kuro-sama!" Fai exclaimed, shaking Kurogane by the shoulders.

"Ireallylikeyouokay?" He yelled so fast that if Fai hadn't been hanging on his every word he wouldn't have been able to make out what he'd said.

_Finally, you've stopped being so stubborn, _Fai thought. "Me too, Kuro-chan, me too," was what he said though. He leaned in to kiss Kurogane's red cheek, and when he did he blushed even harder. Neither one of them thought it was possible, but apparently Kurogane's cheeks did in fact get redder.

"What now?" Kurogane asked, even though they both knew.

"Well, silly Kuro-chuu, considering what we just said, I'd say we're officially boyfriends now," he said nonchalantly.

"Umm, don't you find this even a bit strange?" Kurogane asked, because he definitely thought it was.

"No, I don't. Why should I?" Fai blinked, completely confused. Kurogane thought he was joking, but then he realized he was being dead serious.

"Well, uh, never mind. Just…don't tell my mom, okay? She'd never let you stay if she knew," he tried to explain to Fai.

"I would never tell her if it meant I couldn't stay here!" Fai gasped in horror.

"Thanks. Now, whaddya wanna do 'till my mom gets back?" He asked sheepishly, still weirded out by what had just happened.

"Well…if you _have_ to ask…" he started as he leaned in towards Kurogane until their noses were touching. Fai smiled and lifted Kurogane's chin up to kiss him on the lips.

He pulled away a bit to fast for Kurogane-the blonde's lips were soft and warm. He grabbed both sides of Fai's face and pulled him in for another kiss. When they broke apart, Kurogane breathed nervously in his ear, "actually, I don't just like you, I...I...I love you, you idiot."

Fai burst into a fit of giggles and turned around to sit in Kurogane's lap. he picked up his arms and wrapped them loosely around his waist, grabbing a hold of his hands in the process. He then made himself comfortable and sighed happily. He leaned back and whispered in Kurogane's ear, "I love you too. Thanks."

"For what?" Kurogane asked, confused.

"Well, for everything really. I know I keep thanking you, but I'm only doing it because I want you to know just how grateful I am to you." Fai smiled.

"You can show me you're grateful by not being depressed, 'kay?"

"Okii doki! You're really sweet, ya know that?" Fai replied dreamily.

"Who're you callin' sweet? I ain't sweet!" he replied defensively.

"You are though! Who would do all this if they weren't? Lemme define it for you: 1. Pleasing to the taste; being or inducing the one of the four basic taste sensations that is typically induced by disaccharides and is mediated especially by receptors in taste buds at the front of the tongue 2. pleasing to the mind or feelings : agreeable, gratifying by gentle good humor or kindliness 4. Fragrant 5. Delicately pleasing to the ear or eye 6. saccharine, cloying; very good or appealing 7. much loved; dear

" Fai quoted yet again.

"There you go, quoting the stupid dictionary again! You shouldn't do that- you sound like a nerd!" he snorted.

"B-but...the definition of nerd is..." he started to rebuttal, but Kurogane shut him up by slapping a hand over his mouth.

"Don't you _even_ go there," warned.

Fai didn't like Kurogane's hand over his mouth one bit. When he talked, it came out muffled! He figured the best and only way to get him off would be to lick his hand. He would be right.

"Ew! That's just nasty! Don't lick people!" he exclaimed, wiping his hand on his pants.

"Oh, you mean like this?" he asked as he licked the dark haired boy's cheek.

"Yes! Exactly like that! Don't do it!" he exclaimed, rather frustrated.

"And why not?" Fai tried asking innocently. He loved teasing Kurogane a little too much.

"'Cuse it's weird, that's why!"

"Well, didn't you also just say that _this_ was weird?" Fai asked, motioning to the way they were seated.

"I know, but that's...a different type of weird. Just...don't lick people, okay?" he fumbled.

"Ahaha, okay Kuro-pii. I was only teasing you anyways. You're just so cute when you're flustered!" Fai cooed.

"I am _not_!" he whined.

"Are too," Fai insisted, kissing Kurogane one more time. They broke apart and heard Tomoyo putting the room key in the door, so they scrambled away from each other and flipped on the TV.

"Ahh, what a relaxing massage," she sighed, "I enjoyed myself! What did you two do while I was gone?"

"Absolutely nothing!" Kurogane said quickly.

"We watched TV!" Fai added.

Tomoyo just smiled at them and went to her room. "We can go get dinner in a few, okay?" was what she said, but she was thinking _Finally! It's about time!_

--

The rest of the evening was spent between hiding things from Tomoyo (which they both felt bad about) while she was around, and being couple-y when she wasn't. Well, as 'couple-y' as you can get when you're talking about Kurogane. He felt like he was turning into a pansy, whereas Fai couldn't have been happier.

When they decided to go to bed, they sat there for a few moments debating what they should do. It'd be strange for them to sleep together like they had been, but they didn't have much choice. Plus, it's not like either if them was going to disagree with it.

Fai asked if he could possibly hold Kurogane instead tonight, and that came with a resounding "heck no! I already feel like an idiot as it is, no _way_ am I about to torture myself more!" Fai had just laughed and shrugged it off, letting Kurogane hold him again as they slept.

--

**A/N: You have **_**no idea**_** how much trouble I went through to get this chapter typed! O_O I typed it entirely on my laptop, and it kept crashing on me! I typed a few scenes three times I think! It was horrible, and I'm glad to have it done.**

**Anywhoo, they're finally together! :D I love this chapter so much, because it's so cute! n__n Also, I think I deserve some good reviews for all my trouble! (please? :3)**


	6. Chapter 5: Apprehension

**A/N: Woot woot! I'm on chapter 5! After that seriously long chapter, I'm praying this one won't be as long. Somehow, when I write 2-3 pages of a chapter, sit it down and come back to it a week or so later, it turns into a massive chapter that takes me hours upon hours to type. Take chapters 2 and 4 for example. Anywhoo, you really don't care about how long it took me as long as you get to read it, desho? **

Apprehension

Fai woke up first again, and looked over at the sleeping dark-haired boy that he was cuddled up against. He prayed to every god he could think of that yesterday _hadn't_ been a dream, and kissed Kurogane softly to wake him up. This startled him, but then he remembered yesterday's, er, events and kissed him back. Fai gave him a quick hug and rolled over to stretch. He then thanked all the gods he'd just prayed to sincerely. If yesterday had turned out to be a dream he didn't know what he'd have done.

"Mornin' Kuro-chuu! I must admit that was a rather splendiferous was to start off my morning!" He chirped.

"Splendiferous? Seriously?" He asked, raising an eyebrow questioningly.

"Yesireebob! Splendiferous! It Means, well, dictionary-san doesn't have that word, but there's always 'splendid'. It means shining, brilliant, showy, gorgeous, illustrious, and excellent!" He explained.

"I seriously have no idea how you know all these words off the top of your head," Kurogane shook his head, dumbfounded.

"Like I've said before, when the only toys you've got are law books and a dictionary, you learn a thing or two. I only memorize the really good ones though, 'cuse the whole dictionary would just take too long." Fai stated matter-of-factly.

"Well, I guess that's true, but it's still weird to quote it all the time," Kurogane huffed, but he admitted to himself it was kind of cute. Not like he'd ever tell Fai that though, he didn't want him knowing he was going soft. Heck, he himself didn't want to know this was happening!

"Too bad, you're stuck with it. It's just too much fun to irritate you like this!" Fai chirped, "Plus, I get to see you blushing, which is adorable. I think it's especially cute that you're still like this even when you don't have to be! I mean, it's not like you've got anything to hide from me now…"

"Just 'cuse we're 'dating' or whatever doesn't mean I can't be embarrassed! Or angry!" He argued, trying to keep the redness in his face down but failing miserably.

_He's got a point, _Kurogane realized, _I really don't have to hide anything from him. I've got no reason to now, but I ain't about to become a total weenie and give in to him all the time. _

Before Kurogane had a chance to say anything at all however, Tomoyo burst into the room. They were both thankful that they were still sitting apart from each other at this moment in time, because otherwise they may have some explaining to do. Neither one of them wanted her to find out, because she might disagree with it and send Fai away. Then again, she hadn't said one word about what she'd seen the first two days on the cruise, and she _had_ sent them on a date yesterday…

"Ah, I see you're already up! Well, how about you two getting dressed, but putting your swimsuits on underneath? We can go get breakfast at the buffet and then go swimming!" She clapped her hands together excitedly.

"You mean…all of us?" Kurogane inquired, trying to hide the disappointment in his voice. With his mom there, even if she didn't disagree with this, it wasn't like anything was going to happen. This was his _mom_ after all. From what Kurogane knew, you didn't do stuff like that in front of parents. He didn't know much though, considering he was still only eleven and a half. Heck, up until yesterday, he hadn't even had his first kiss! He wasn't about to tell Fai that either, but given Fai's own past, he was pretty sure that was Fai's first too.

"Yes, all of us silly! With all this craziness going on I haven't had a chance to spend much time with you!" She insisted.

"Bu-bu-but mooooooom!" Kurogane whined, giving up, "you can spend all day with me at home! This is vacation still, despite what's going to happen when we get back."

Tomoyo sighed. She really couldn't tell them why she was insisting on spending time with them now. She knew what had happened yesterday, and knew they wanted time to themselves, but she had a very good reason for doing this. She couldn't change the future much, but she could at least spend this day with them instead of going to the movies or the spa again.

"I'm going and that's final. We should all spend some quality time together before the apprehension sets in. We still have today and two more days before we get off in Washington, but after that we're going to be very stressed. I think the court date is the day after we get back, so we won't have time to do much beforehand. We'll probably just stay in a hotel for the night, because we obviously won't be at Fai's place," she kind of rambled, hoping that was enough to get Kurogane off the subject long enough for him to just agree.

Apparently it was, because he sighed heavily before replying, "fine, I give. Let's go change."

--

If Kurogane had to sum up the breakfast in one word, he would choose awkward. Fai would choose tasty, and Tomoyo would choose absolutely adorable-even though it's two words. They all had their good reasons for doing this though.

It was awkward because his mom seemed to be all-knowing. She kept saying things that made Kurogane think she already knew, but she couldn't have, unless that idiot told her. _Which is a possibility, _he thought.

It was tasty because, well, it just was! Fai had seemed oblivious to Kurogane's embarrassment and awkward feelings-he was too busy enjoying the food.

It was absolutely adorable because, seriously, who _wouldn't _think that this was? I mean, here they were, trying to hide it, when it was painfully obvious. Kurogane, although he didn't realize it, was acting much softer towards Fai today. He still complained about him every other second, and seemed to be mean to him, but he was different than before. He didn't really hate him anymore like he had a few days ago.

Even though she'd already seen this happen, she didn't realize how _fast_ it had really occurred! They'd only been here-what-three days? This was the fourth day they'd been on the ship, and it had already happened. It kind of scared her how fast everything was going on, but as she knew what would happen to everyone when they returned, she was glad at the same time. She didn't like the future, but she was going to try and fight it. Every time she thought about it, she cried, so she tried not to. Maybe it would help if they tried to obtain courtesy of him? It surely would help that he would be staying with them for sure now that this had happened. She wouldn't let Fai out of her sight until after the trial. She was _not_ about to let Ashura-at least she _thought_ it was Ashura, she didn't actually know who it was- do that to Fai.

She was pretty sure it was going to happen no matter what though, considering her dreams had ended there. After that horrible dream, she was in the dark. It seemed it was inevitable that Fai was going to die.

_Oh no, _she thought, _I'm starting to cry again! _She quickly regained her composure, and smiled at them. There was no way she would go spoiling their fun now. Plus, she wasn't one hundred percent sure that it would happen.

"Oi, mom, we're done. Can we go swimming now?" Kurogane asked, and she could tell he just really wanted to be with just Fai. She silently scolded her son for being so naughty.

"Sure! You two go on ahead, I'll take care of your plates for you. Don't do anything naughty now, Kurogane," she warned, giggling.

_There she goes again, _he thought. _She's making those weird references that make me wonder…_

"Thanks Ms. Tomoyo!" Fai chirped, and started skipping off with Kurogane. Well, Fai was the only one that was actually skipping, but he pretended Kurogane was. It was more fun that way.

Once they were out of eye and earshot of Tomoyo, Fai looked up at Kurogane with the most innocent face he could muster. "Can we hold hands on the way there?" He asked sweetly, even though he was pretty sure Kurogane wouldn't do it.

"No way in hell am I going to hold your hand in public. Do what you want, but nothing will make me hold your stupid hand," he growled.

"Kuro-rin is so mean! Why not?" He complained, trying to look as adorable and innocent as possible. It didn't phase Kurogane, however.

"'Cuse, you seriously think I want people knowing? Everyone'll think we're weird!" He explained.

"Aww, Kuro-sama doesn't want people to know that we're going out! Maybe he doesn't care…should we break up Kuro-tan?" He tried to sound upset, but he was only faking to get what he wanted…again.

"No!" Kurogane shrieked in horror, "D-don't g-get the w-wrong idea, okay?" He blushed.

"Well, then, you should hold my hand to show me you really do care!" Fai suggested, holding out his hand. Kurogane took it, and his face turned even redder. "Now that's more like it! How 'bout we skip too?" He suggested excitedly. He realized he was pushing his luck, but he still went for it.

"No. I'll hold your hand but that's it. I refuse to _skip,_" he hissed. "I draw the line there, okay?"

Fai started snickering because it finally hit him that he'd actually gotten Kurogane to believe he was serious. Soon he was full out roaring with laughter. Kurogane looked at him questioningly, and Fai just laughed harder. _What is wrong with this moron, _Kurogane wondered.

"Umm, Fai, what's so funny?" He had to ask.

"Y-you f-fell f-for I-it!" He barely managed between fits of laughter.

Kurogane was still majorly confused. "I fell for _what_, exactly? Don't tell me you were just pretending like yesterday?" He inquired, suddenly very, _very_, annoyed.

"Y-you c-caught m-me!" Fai squealed, and Kurogane's anger rose. He nearly punched the idiot, but decided not to. Instead, he just seethed with anger for a few moments and calmed down. By the time he did this, he realized Fai had led them into the changing room somehow.

"Whoa! When did we get _here_?" Kurogane asked, shocked.

"Just now! You were too busy seething like and angry puppy to notice, Kuro-puppy!" He laughed.

"Okay, I seriously draw the line at 'Kuro-puppy'. I hate those dumb names in the first place, but I'll deal. Call me Kuro-puppy again and I'll slap you though." He threatened.

"Kuro-puppy!" Fai exclaimed, giggling like a maniac.

Kurogane slapped him, as promised. "That should teach you. Unless you wanna get slapped _again,_ I'd suggest you not call me that. Although, you did come in my room on that first day after I told you I'd beat you up, so there might be some more slapping shortly," Kurogane remembered.

"I only did that 'cuse I was upset and wanted to talk to you. If you really hate those names that much though, y'know I can stop calling you them, _Kurogane,_" he whispered his full name eerily. This really creeped Kurogane out.

"D-don't do that again! It was creepy!" He screamed, absolutely terrified.

Fai snorted to himself-his plan had worked. He really loved teasing Kurogane too much. "Okay, whatever Kuro-puppy says!" He chirped.

"Y-you did that on purpose too! Geez I'm so stupid!" He then proceeded to slap…himself.

Fai giggled at this, "Stupid Kuro-puppy! Hyuu!" He sang.

"Quit teasing me already, it's not funny idiot!" He shouted at Fai.

"I could never stop teasing my Kuro-myuu!" Fai gasped in mock horror, "it's too much fun!"

"I'll show you what's fun-beating up idiots!" Kurogane roared.

"And who would this 'idiot' that's getting beat up be?" Fai decided to play along.

"That idiot, would be _you,_" he hissed, leaning in towards Fai.

"Oh, really? Would Kuro-chi still beat me up after this…?" Fai asked, closing his eyes along with the distance between their lips. This caused Kurogane's face to flush completely. He was shocked, but then he smiled and returned the kiss.

"Hyuu! Kuro-chan is seriously an amazing kisser!" He squealed in excitement, "I should do that more often!" He giggled, blushing slightly now as well.

"You idiot! What was that for? Someone could have walked in on us first of all, and secondly it was really random!" He wailed.

"Well, to answer you mister Kuro-sama, _I_ really don't care if someone walks in on us, and it was not random. I won't get to while we're at the pool with Tomoyo, and I wanted to see if it'd make you less mad!" He answered Kurogane matter-of-factly.

"Make me less mad…" he started, but then he remembered he was about to beat Fai up and he blushed. "I-I'm sorry!"

"No, it's perfectly okay Kuro-kuro! I had fun! Now, let's change and go meet Tomoyo. She's probably done by now!"

"Okay, whatever," Kurogane tried to shrug off.

They were already wearing their suits as pants, so Kurogane took off his shirt and put it in a locker, along with both of their shoes. Fai however, just grabbed the towels and made his way to the door.

"Oi! You're keeping that on?" He asked.

"Yeah, I really don't want people to be scared by-you know…" he said, smiling. That smile seriously freaked him out-it was so blank and creepy. He didn't mean it at all, but yet he still smiled when he said those words. Kurogane could assume that he'd used this smile many, _many_ times before.

"D-don't smile like that-it's creeping me out. Plus, I know there's no reason for you to smile while saying that," he frowned at the blonde.

"Sorry, habit," was all he said as he turned back towards the door.

"No-it's okay, I just don't like seeing you smile when you're really not smiling on the inside," he admitted, blushing. Geez he was really going soft, what was happening to his manliness?

"How sweet of Kuro-rinta!" Fai said in a singsong voice as he ran back over to kiss Kurogane's cheek. Kurogane turned his head when he did though, making Fai instead kiss his lips. When they broke apart, Fai smiled mischievously.

"Now, now Kuro-tana, I'm almost positive that's what your mom meant by 'being naughty'. I had no plans for that, I swear. You naughty boy!" Fai scolded. "Naughty boy, naughty boy!" he sang, skipping around Kurogane. The dark haired boy just grumbled and pulled Fai by the hand out the door.

--

They were still holding hands when Tomoyo bolted over to them. They simultaneously looked down at their hands in horror and separated them in a hurry. Tomoyo just laughed to herself and decided to pretend like she hadn't noticed.

"Let's go get in the pool, okay guys?" She suggested with the brightest smile Kurogane had ever seen on her face. She really enjoyed this too much.

"Yeah, c'mon Kuro-wan!" Fai chirped in return, pushing Kurogane into the water.

"Fr-fr-freezing!" He screamed when he came up to the surface. Fai had pushed him into the _deep end._ The _freezing_ deep end, nonetheless. He assumed the whole pool was freezing of course, but why'd it have to be the deep end? He scowled.

Fai did a cannonball into the pool, and came up giggling like a five year old. "It's not that cold! Ms. Tomoyo, what do _you_ think?" He turned to Tomoyo and asked. She replied by jumping in and coming up giggling just like Fai had.

"It's not that bad! I don't know what you've got against the water, Kurogane dear."

Kurogane just hmph-ed. Fai splashed him, and he growled at him. This was followed by a suit of 'Hyuu! Kuro-puppy is angry!' by Fai, and a roaring laughter by his mom.

The rest of their day at the pool was just like this-Kurogane getting teased by his mom and his, uhh…_boyfriend_. He still flinched when he thought that, because it just wasn't normal for him. This was taking some getting used to, but it's not like he hated it. If he did, then things would be very different.

Anyways, they stayed for a few hours, then Tomoyo decided that they were all starving (without actually asking them first, mind you), and they needed to go eat- so they did.

--

They returned to the room at about 8 pm, and were pretty exhausted. They watched some TV for about an hour or so, and then decided to get ready for bed. This was all Tomoyo's suggestion- she said that tomorrow they would be getting up early so they could spend the day shopping with her. They had asked why they needed to go early, and she smiled mischievously, telling them it was so they could have the rest of the day to themselves. _She's at it again, _Kurogane thought. _Yippee! Almost a whole day alone with Kuro-kuu, _Fai thought. _Muhwahaha, _Tomoyo thought.

Fai was the first to break the silence. "All right, let's go get ready! Kuro-kan, may I borrow some clothes again? I really hate to but…" he started, but Tomoyo's face lit up and she bolted to her room. She emerged no more than five seconds later with a rather large suitcase. Obviously, Fai recognized it, because he ran over and took it from her.

"Ms. Tomoyo, how'd you get this?" He squealed, hugging it.

"I actually got it yesterday while you two were gone, I just kind of forgot. The police told me Ashura was staying in the their area for the remainder of the cruise, so I decided to take advantage of this by getting your things!" She clapped excitedly.

"Thank you so much!" Fai exclaimed, rushing over to tackle hug Tomoyo. She smiled and hugged him back, whispering 'you're welcome'.

"Okay, let's go now," Kurogane said flatly, interrupting their little, eh hem, 'love fest'. "Since you've got clothes now, go change in the bathroom. I'll be in my room," he commanded. Fai drug his suitcase into the bathroom with some effort, and Kurogane walked to his room to get changed.

Fai walked in the room less than five minutes later, wearing his own pajamas. Kurogane wasn't used to seeing Fai in pajamas that actually _fit_ him, and it kind of weirded him out. He'd gotten used to seeing him in clothes that were either his own clothing or his mother's designs. He was actually, dare he think it, kind of _cute_ in his own…

"Kurin-jin, I know you think I'm cute, but could you please not stare at me like that? It kind of scares me," Fai requested, pulling Kurogane out of his thoughts.

_Man, he nailed my thoughts again_, he thought. It's frightening that he could do that.

"I-I wasn't thinking that! Stop being so conceited idiot," he grumbled, blushing.

"Okay, okay, that's fine. I see how it is- Kuro-pan thinks I'm ugly!" Fai wailed, sniffling like he was going to cry.

"I never said…hey, wait-you're just pretending again. And you thought I'd fall for it again! Tch, like I'm gonna fall for your stupid antics again," Kurogane declared, rolling his eyes.

All Fai caught from that was the first part. "Hyuu! You _do_ think I'm cute!" Fai squealed, rushing over to tackle Kurogane, who blushed once again.

"Oof!" He exclaimed when Fai landed on him, "I never said that either, moron."

"Well, you didn't say I _wasn't, _so that means you think I am. I can read you too, ya know," Fai whispered in Kurogane's ear. He was currently sitting on his chest, because that's where he landed when he tackled him.

"Whatever. Now, get. off." He punctuated. Fai sighed and rolled off Kurogane.

He sat up, brushing himself off. "Let's go to bed, okay? I'm tired after having to deal with you _and_ my mom all day. You two together wear me out- I have no idea how I'm going to deal with this everyday," he said, utterly exasperated. _Only thing that'll keep me from wanting to kill them is the simple fact they're the only two people in this world that I care about, _Kurogane realized.

"Well, you kind of have to put up with your mother, but you don't have to put up with me ya know," Fai said, actually disappointed.

"I know," he said, then muttered under his breath, "but that doesn't mean I don't _want_ to."

"Hmm, what was that, Kura-ra?" Fai questioned, making that weird face that looked like a cat again.

"Nothing," he grumbled, "I'm going to bed." He declared, getting up off the floor and settling down under the covers. He scooted over to make a place for Fai, and Fai jumped right in- literally. Kurogane watched in amazement as he bounded from halfway across the room and landed on the bed skillfully. Fai just acted as if it was nothing, and he got settled up against Kurogane to sleep. He took the ninja-in-training's arm and wrapped it around his waist, falling asleep moments afterwards.

--

Tomoyo was about to get ready for bed herself when her cell phone rang. It was the police, asking if Fai was okay and re-assuring her that Ashura was safe in the police area. They also told her that they had rented a hotel room for them to stay in while the trial was being held. Fai was to stay with the police, and Ashura would be under house arrest.

She freaked out when she heard this and demanded that Fai be able to stay with them. If she let Fai stay with the police, she couldn't try and stop what was going to happen. They told her to 'please calm down', and she said she wouldn't unless they let Fai stay with them. They finally gave up and agreed with her.

She breathed a heavy sigh of relief, and got ready for bed. That night, she dreamed about Fai again for the first time in months. The dream was the same as the last dream she'd had, but this time Fai was okay. In her sleep, she cried tears of joy.

--

The last three days on the ship were rather…let's just say _interesting_. Shopping with Tomoyo had nearly made Kurogane pull his hair out. He hated shopping anyways, but it was worse when his mom was making him try things on against his will. He tried convincing her that he didn't need new clothes, but she wouldn't listen. She insisted on buying each of them a new outfit in celebration, but in celebration of what she didn't say. _I swear she knows what's going on, _Kurogane thought again. Her real purpose wasn't that for once. She was just happy that everyone was going to make it out of this alive.

After they went shopping, Tomoyo reluctantly left them alone for the rest of the day. She wouldn't have let them out of her sight today if she hadn't have had that dream last night. Now that she knew Fai wasn't going to die, she could actually breathe around them. Although she was pretty sure that because of this she was being even more hyper and annoying around them, but she didn't really care.

She decided to lounge out on the deck while they were out. She deserved some peace and rest after helping to save Fai.

--

"Is it just me, or does my mom seem even more annoying than usual today?" Kurogane complained to Fai once they were out of earshot.

"No, she didn't. Not to me at least…"

"Hmm, maybe it's just 'cuse you're annoying too," he suggested, running a hand through his hair. "Oh well, whaddya wanna do?"

"Hmm, let's go sit out on the deck!" He exclaimed, throwing his hands in the air.

Kurogane thought this was lame, but he went with it anyways. The deck wasn't as far as he'd thought, so they got there quickly and chose a place to sit. Fai kept 'ooh'-ing and 'ah'-ing at the 'pretty view', and Kurogane just growled at him when he pestered him about it. He hated sitting around and doing nothing, especially when he was forced to. This was what he hated the most though- watching nature.

He was still scowling when Fai decided to kiss him out of nowhere. "What the heck was _that_ for, you idiot?" He roared.

"Kuro-ran just looked so _adorable _sitting there scowling like that!" He giggled. Kurogane wouldn't have minded so much, save the fact they were in a _very_ public place now. His thoughts changed drastically in a few seconds though, when his _mother_ came rushing over. _Since when did _she_ get here? _Kurogane thought, worried. _She obviously saw us, because otherwise she wouldn't be running over._

"Kurogane, Fai!" She squealed, running towards them. Kurogane was nearly one hundred percent positive that she'd seen what just happened, and was seriously dreading her next words.

"Hiya Ms. Tomoyo!" Fai squeaked, "We didn't know you were here!"

"Well, _I_ didn't know _you_ two were here either, so it's okay Fai darling. Speaking of which, what brings you here?" She was trying very hard to pretend like she hadn't seen what she had. She knew they didn't want her to know.

"We're here 'cuse we wanna be, mom. Do you have a _problem_ with that?" He snarled.

"My, my, someone's defensive! Is that any way to speak to your _mother_?" She knew he was prone to being like this, but she'd thought he was getting better. He's probably on edge because he knew what she'd just seen. A combination of that and the fact that in a matter of days they'd be finding out what would happen to Fai and Ashura. _He was just apprehensive is all_, she told herself.

"I ain't defensive, I'm _angry_ at you!" He yelled.

"Why're you angry at me? Is it because of what I just s-" she started, but slapped a hand over her mouth. She didn't want them to know she'd seen! _Oh no, oh no, oh no, _she thought in fear of what they might do now. Well, namely what _Kurogane _would do now. She wasn't worried about Fai.

"Y-you s-saw?" His eyes widened in fear, before he got defensive again, "I-it's…it's not what you think!" He cried.

"Kuro-wawa's a liar Ms. Tomoyo!" Fai cried in return.

"You idiot! She's not supposed to know!" He hissed at Fai, but his mom heard.

"Tch, tch. I was right- you _were_ being naughty! Don't get me wrong though, I really don't mind. I think it's adorable!" She cooed.

"Y-you _what?_" Kurogane asked, cleaning his ears out to make sure he'd heard right. _She didn't mind? At all?_ He asked himself in disbelief.

"I said, I don't mind. It's adorable. Ah-dor-ah-ble," she enunciated.

Kurogane's face was as red as a tomato's by now, and Fai was giggling again. He was enjoying this a little too much.

Tomoyo just sighed and started walking away. "I'll leave you two alone, 'kay? Have fun!" She laughed, almost glad they knew she knew. Now neither one would have to hide anything. _No, _she thought, _I take that back. I still have to hide the fact I know what's going to happen (although only a few days ahead instead of nine months like before), and I know Kurogane's still going to be awkward when I'm around. _

--

"This is bad, this is bad," Kurogane kept repeating as he paced the deck. "You are truly an idiot, you knew I didn't want her finding out for this very reason- she's going to tease me mercilessly now!"

"I'm so sorry Kuro-sama! Don't be mad at me!" Fai nearly cried at the thought of Kurogane ignoring him because he was angry.

"No, an apology isn't gonna do it. I'm not forgiving you that easily," he crossed his arms over his chest, turning away from Fai. This actually made the little blonde cry. For real too, he wasn't faking this time. Kurogane noticed this, and immediately felt horrible. He didn't mean to make him cry, honest!

He sighed and walked over to Fai, hugging him from behind. "Don't cry, I hate that," he whispered in his ear, and Fai's sobbing stopped. He squirmed around for a few moments before he managed to turn around so they were face-to-face. He wrapped his arms around the dark haired boys waist, and kissed him.

"I'm sorry," he whispered.

"It's okay," Kurogane whispered back. He pulled away from Fai and took his hand. "Oi, we're going back now, 'kay?"

"'Kay!" Fai squeaked happily.

--

The rest of that day and the next as well went exactly as Tomoyo had predicted. Kurogane blushed whenever she said anything about it, and she still didn't tell them about her dreams. She didn't ever plan to either.

The last day however, was rather stressful. They were to arrive in California at eight that night, and they would then take a plane to Fai's hometown in Washington. They woke up early and packed all their stuff, which took quite some time, and she let them do whatever they wanted until seven. Then they took all their stuff down and waited with other people for the ship to dock.

When it did, they managed to squirm through all the people to get out. They had a plane to catch at nine thirty pm, and they didn't want to be late. They hailed a taxi, and headed to the airport. Fai and Kurogane fell asleep on the short plane ride, and barely made it to the hotel before falling asleep again. She let them rest, because she knew the next few days were going to be insane.

--

**A/N: So, how was it? I almost ended it with Tomoyo's dream, but then I wrote the last three days and it ended up being **_**way**_** too short to be a chapter by itself, so I threw it in here. I have a feeling the next chapter is going to make people hate me a**_** lot**_**, but at least Fai isn't going to die anymore, desho? I know you'd probably prefer it to stay fluffy, but I have big angsty plans for chapter 6 and 7 (This is getting really long! It was originally going to be a 2, maybe 3 chapter miniseries that was just funny, but Fai decided to have a terribly sad past that made this have a **_**plot**_**…)! Also, in case you haven't seen it, I've got a poll running to decide if I'm going to make this longer. I have an idea for kind of an epilogue chapter, but I'm not going to write it unless my readers want me to. The fate of this story is in your hands, dear readers. Would you like to know what happens after all this or not (When I put it that way, it almost makes me want to go ahead and write it. Almost. I'm not about to make myself work if no one is going to enjoy it…)?**

**Okay, I'm done blabbing now, so all that's left is for you to write me a review! :D **


	7. Chapter 6: Vengeance

**A/N: I can't believe I'm on chapter 6 already, but I can't allow myself to be happy while writing this considering sadsadsad things happen. It's chuck full of angst, so much I have to ask that you don't kill me for it. 'Cuse if you do, then you'll never know the end of the story, and that would be a shame. So, in exchange for you not killing me, I'll finish the story for you. Fair deal? I thought so. o__o**

**Aannnddd now that we're in agreement, let's move on to the angst (oh joy…)**

**Vengeance**

The day they arrived, they'd practically passed out when they walked into the hotel room, and the day before the trial was spent walking around the town with Fai as their guide. The only things they didn't go to were his house and the orphanage, for obvious reasons.

The morning of the trial, they were rudely awoken by Tomoyo's screams.

"Mom, what's wrong?" Kurogane asked sleepily, sitting up. Since this hotel wasn't as fancy as the cruise ship, it was only one room.

"I…I don't believe this…" she breathed, her voice barely above a whisper. She looked so scared that it made Kurogane afraid too.

"Believe what, Ms. Tomoyo?" Fai yawned, sitting up as well.

"Ashura…" was all she said, and Fai's face changed from sleepily confused to awake and horrified.

"Wh…what about him?" He gasped, short of breath because he was hyperventilating. Kurogane looked at him worriedly.

"He's…he's dead…" she finally spat out.

"WHAT?" They both yelled simultaneously. Fai started crying immediately, and Kurogane pulled him into a tight hug to calm him down. Considering Fai was in no mindset to talk and make even a smidgen on sense, Kurogane asked for him.

"How did _that_ happen?"

"Suicide. He probably knew he was going to jail or worse for this, and didn't want to deal with it," she clarified for them once she had composed herself enough to speak again

Kurogane sat there in disbelief; he'd _actually_ gone to the extreme of killing himself before going to jail. What a coward.

"So, obviously the case isn't necessary anymore, instead we'll be going to see what will happen to Fai," she continued.

"B-b-but, why can't I just stay with you guys?" Fai sniffled, and Tomoyo smiled sadly at him.

"Because, this is a legal matter and we have to see what the judge says. The time has been moved to five pm, and it's noon now, so we have about four and a half hours to prepare ourselves. I suggest we just stay here," she stated firmly, trying to appear calm although she clearly _wasn't._ Fai just continued to cry, and Kurogane had taken to stroking his hair. He asked, blushing, if she wouldn't mind turning around for a minute. She snickered to herself and complied.

The second she had turned around, Kurogane lifted up Fai's face to meet his own and kissed him. "Calm down, okay? You never have to worry about him again, so you should be glad," he whispered. Fai's only response was to nuzzle his head in Kurogane's neck.

After almost an hour of this, Fai stopped bawling. They got changed, Tomoyo ordered room service because they weren't suited to actually go get food at this point, and they hung around for the remaining time. Not too much happened, they were mainly just too nervous and upset to talk about anything other than what would happen once they got there. Kurogane was certain that Fai would be allowed to stay, but Fai wasn't so sure. Tomoyo stayed quiet the entire time, because she didn't want them to know that she was already fully aware of the events to occur. Her first dream had been about today, so before they'd even arrived she had known Fai's fate. She decided to keep it to herself though, for her own reasons.

--

When the time came, they headed to the courthouse and arrived right on time.

"Ah, so I see you've made it. Yuui, I'm sorry that Ashura is gone, but you're probably happy about it. Anyways, before we decide what to do with you, I think you deserve to know exactly what went down at that court session after he killed your parents," the woman seated at the judge's place told them calmly when they walked in.

"Excuse me miss, are you the judge?" Tomoyo asked politely.

"Oh, my apologies, I am Yuuko Ichihara, presider and judge of this case and the one so many years ago involving the death of Yuui's parents," she stood up and bowed, "what about you two here with Yuui?"

"I'm Tomoyo, and this is my son, Kurogane," Tomoyo answered, gesturing to herself and Kurogane when appropriate.

"Well, hello Tomoyo and Kurogane. Please have a seat while I explain. I think you should all fit at the place where Fai would be sitting if this had been the real court session," she gestured towards the prosecutor's table. They all looked over to the defendant table- the place where Ashura would have sat- and winced before sitting down at their own.

Once they were seated, she asked them before starting, "What exactly do you know already, Yuui?"

"I know that he was the man in the car that killed my parents, and in the court session he wound up having to take both of us in because he hated kids. He also had to volunteer daily because he just hated people in general. Am I correct?" Fai asked, showing no emotion whatsoever. It kind of scared Kurogane, actually.

"Wow, you know more than I was aware of. This makes my job a little bit easier, so thank you. I assume you didn't hear this from him though, am _I_ correct?" she seemed surprised that Fai already knew.

"No, I didn't. In fact, I heard it from _you_," he answered in the same tone as before, "when you came over one day, I spied on you guys, and that's how I found out."

"Well, well, how ironic that you found out from me before. But as I always say, nothing is 'ironic' or a 'coincidence', everything is fate," she said coolly, "but as usual I'm getting off the subject. Here's one piece of information I'm almost positive you don't know- Ashura was also the one that started the fire at the orphanage. Yes, the same one that killed your brother. We didn't know this until he told us back on the cruise ship. I guess he figured it didn't matter anymore since he was going to kill himself," she continued, almost nonchalantly.

The moment the words 'Ashura', 'started', and 'fire' came out of her mouth, Fai lost the ability to hear, see, and feel. _All this time I've been blaming myself, all this time I've been so depressed over this, and now I find out _Ashura's_ responsible? I mean, it still could have been me that died, but the fact it was Ashura's fault changes everything. He planned on killing one of us, and I guess it didn't matter to him _which_ one he killed. That's probably also why he beat me, to get rid of me too. _He started to cry, and when he could hear, see, and feel again Kurogane was holding him and stroking his hair- much like he had earlier.

"You're conscious again!" he exclaimed, and pulled him closer.

"I passed out?" Fai asked, puzzled.

"I'd say so- you were out cold for nearly a half hour! We were starting to get worried..." Kurogane started, but Fai leaned up and kissed him. "You idiot! We're still in the court room!" he whisper-yelled in Fai's ear. The blonde just giggled.

Yuuko heard them talking, and spun back around in her chair. After Fai fainted, she had spun the other way, asking to be informed when he woke up. She tossed something to the bailiff, was that a wine bottle?_ What kind of judge drinks while in a session? _Kurogane wondered, shaking his head. _Apparently this one. _She carefully placed her wine glass down on her podium-type thing (Kurogane wasn't quite sure what it was), and continued as if nothing had ever happened. "Glad to see you're back, Yuui. Anywhoo, that's really all there is to tell you about Ashura. So, let's cut to the chase and decide what's going to happen to you."

"Excuse me, Mrs. Ichihara, but we have a request. Do you think he could come live with us, possibly?" Tomoyo asked as sweetly and politely as she could.

"Well, it's up to the jury, but really, you don't have any official claim to him," she suggested lightly.

"Why? We'd take good care of him, and I can't take a chance that his next family will treat him like Ashura did!" Kurogane gasped, completely terrified.

"Why? Why? Because, Kurogane, you have to trust that the right person will find him. Like I said though, it's not my decision. Jury, go discuss this and meet back here in an hour," she instructed.

After they left, she got up and headed out the door. "I'll be back," was all she said.

Fai was already in tears again, and Kurogane was already comforting him. "It's okay, I'm sure they'll let us take you in! Even if they don't, we'll just walk right up to that orphanage and come get ya. I promised I'd protect you, and I'll keep that promise. They wont take you away," he assured.

Fai didn't even utter a word during that hour, he just cried. Kurogane kept reassuring him, but it didn't calm him down at all. Nothing would- not stroking his hair, not pulling him closer, not wiping away his tears, not even _kissing him. _The hour passed by much faster than they both liked, and the jury came back in with Yuuko behind them. She walked back to her podium and sat down.

"So, what'll it be?" she asked them.

"We've decided that you are right- he should get a Fair chance at a new home. We don't know any more about these people than we would about any other family, so who's to say they aren't lying to us?" one man stood up and read emotionlessly from a piece of paper.

Fai and Kurogane's jaws dropped at this, and this time they _both_ cried. It was really happening- they were being separated. Their only hope now was to adopt him from the orphanage. That hope was soon crushed, however, when Yuuko spoke again.

"The jury has spoken, Yuui. You are to return to the orphanage you stayed at before- they rebuilt it. Also, to make things Fair for others that might want to adopt you, these people have to wait an entire year from this day to come and try to adopt you. Come before that, and you'll be refused along with banned from the orphanage for good," she stated flatly, banging her gavel down to signify the case was closed. Kurogane had no idea how she could show no emotion while telling them this.

Fai started crying louder, and refused to be taken away. He held onto Kurogane so tight they had to try for five solid minutes to get him off. The whole time, their lips only parted when they absolutely had to breathe.

Once they had successfully removed Fai from Kurogane, they picked him up and carried him out before they could even say goodbye. As he was being taken away, Kurogane yelled in tears, "I'll come back, I swear! I love you!" But they put a hand over Fai's mouth to muffle his ear-piercing screams, so he didn't even get to hear his reply.

Both him and his mom sat there for a solid two hours after everyone had left, with Tomoyo holding Kurogane like she had when he was just a small child, and he cried until they couldn't cry anymore. Tomoyo had seen this coming, but it still made her upset. She couldn't cry just now though, she had to be strong for her son.

--

That night they got a call from the police again, saying their plane tickets were paid for as well, and they were leaving first thing tomorrow at eight am. Tomoyo insisted that Kurogane sleep with her tonight, so she could comfort him. It wasn't like she was going to sleep anyways.

As he was crying himself to sleep, she whispered, "We'll come back for him, Kurogane, I promise you."

--

**A/N: Don'tkillmedon'tkillmedon'tkillme! Dx I know it's horribly sad, and I nearly just cried writing it, but just...wait a chapter (maybe two, I'm not sure just yet)! **

**Oh, and by the way, I feel like I just killed Ashura so I didn't have to write a court scene. I **_**really**_** wanted him to die though, so it's okay. Especially 'cuse he died in place of Fai, thanks to Tomoyo. If she hadn't of begged to let Fai stay in the hotel with them, he'd be dead now and so would I. If I didn't kill **_**myself**_** for writing it, I'm positive someone else would. **

**Anywhoo, I know it's short (a pitiful 2,000 words!), but I'd appreciate some reviews so I know if it turned out to be any good or not!**


	8. Chapter 7: Melancholy

**A/N: It's time for the second to last chapter! Prepare thyselves for some major angst, because this chapter is even worse than the last one. Although, you **_**will**_** get to see some more CLAMP characters, so at least you have that to look forward to. Oh, and in case you get confused, remember this- Sayoran is original!Syaoran and Fuuka is clone!Syaoran.**

**Anywhoo, to the angst!**

--

Melancholy

Fai sighed happily, content in Kurogane's arms. He loved nothing more than this, and often dozed off while they sat there.

"Hey, moron- you fell asleep again! Wake up!" Kurogane hissed. Fai was awake, but didn't want Kurogane to know just yet. "Get up! Come on!" Kurogane was more persistent now, shaking him to wake him up. Fai had to stop himself from giggling at this. "You good-for-nothing child! Wake up already!" Kurogane-no, that wasn't Kurogane's voice. Who's was it though? Fai wanted to lay there a bit longer, but the shaking and yelling didn't cease like he'd hoped.

All of a sudden, he shot open his eyes and faced the harsh reality. He'd only been dreaming about Kurogane- he was really still in the orphanage. _So, I was right_, he thought. _That wasn't my Kuro-chan's voice after all. It was merely that of one of the attendants here- if you can call them that. _

He'd forgotten how bad this place had been until he was dragged here against his will a little over six months ago (he wasn't sure about this though, seeing as he had no way of keeping track of time besides one clock). As a little tiny kid and with Fai there, it hadn't been too bad, but now that he wasn't five years old he saw why the older kids always complained so much (more so than the younger kids). The attendants were all rude or even abusive, the place was never clean, and the toys were all really old. You'd think it was a jail more than an orphanage if you didn't know better, and even though Fai _did_ know better he still had his doubts. This place was so bad it almost made him miss Ashura's house…_almost._

The attendant pulled him out of his thoughts by slapping him across the face. "C'mon Yuui, get the heck up already. You fell asleep outside again, and it's gonna be dark soon. It's time for showers and bed, but I'm fairly certain you'll be the last one to shower." Fai shivered as he thought of the stone cold water. He stood up and started to walk inside when his stomach growled. "Oh, and by the way, you missed dinner so you'll just have to wait 'till morning to eat," she snarled when she heard his stomach roar.

He silently cursed himself for sleeping through dinner again- this was the third time this week. He couldn't sleep at night anymore, so he took to napping during the day instead. He always slept in different places to try and avoid being caught, but this resulted in him missing dinner and usually lunch too. Seeing as he was already as thin as a rail, he couldn't afford to lose that much weight, but he was quickly losing pounds. He hadn't looked in a mirror since he got here, and didn't plan on it any time soon. He could feel his hair was getting a bit long, mainly because it was hard for him to see now, and he was beginning to be able to see some of his bones. If he _were_ to look in a mirror, he'd probably think he looked like a walking corpse. He surely felt it.

He missed Kurogane so badly that it was literally killing him. All his dreams were of him, so he found himself wanting to sleep more and more because his dreams were so much better than the harsh reality. He decided it was worth it to miss meals and sleep instead, because in his dreams he could talk to and be with his Kuro-sama. In truth, he couldn't see him for about half a year, and he couldn't talk anyways.

When he arrived, he refused to speak to anyone. Sure, he could have tried to make friends here, but that didn't mean he wanted to. Three boys tried to talk to him a lot, but he always ignored them or just walked away. They were a set of twins and their younger brother. If he remembered correctly, the twin's names were Watanuki and Syaoran, and the littler one's name was Fuuka. They were all nice enough, and tried to help him sometimes, but he just really didn't want friends. It was too much of a pain to have friends- friends meant that you had to tell them everything about yourself, and Fai could barely handle that the first time around.

So, basically, because he never talked he eventually lost the ability to. It's true what they say- use it or lose it. Really though, it's not like he'd talk even if he still could, but it still scared him that words no longer formed when he tried. What if he could never speak again? He started to tear up again, and the attendant slapped him again. This scared him, because he didn't realize she'd been following him.

"You've got no reason to cry, Yuui. It's your own fault you're going without dinner. Move along now- the showers won't wait forever." Fai just sniffled and continued to trudge to the showers. She had been right- everyone else was finished showering and was already in bed. He took off his clothes and showered quickly, making sure he didn't look in the mirror or even the showerhead, although he really couldn't see much out of them anyways. Looking out of the corner of his eye, he noticed both of them were filthy and probably hadn't been cleaned since the building re-opened. Fai wasn't quite sure how they'd managed to get so dirty, but he wasn't about to ask even if he could.

His fears were confirmed when he turned on the shower- the water was stone cold. There was only ever a pitifully small amount of hot water, but he still hated the cold showers. The only people that were lucky enough to get hot water were the first two or maybe three people to get in line, which was a feat considering how many people had to shower. Fai really didn't see why they'd make _everyone_ take their bi-weekly showers at once, but he really couldn't ask. He could only hope that one day he'd get to be one of the lucky three, but his attempts had proved futile until now. Even when he _didn't _sleep through dinner on shower nights, he was always pretty far back in line. Unlike the other kids, he didn't deem it necessary to push and shove his way to the front of the line, but this didn't stop him from getting pushed and shoved by the ones who _did_. He always wound up about five or ten people back from where he started, and he didn't even pay attention to it much anymore. His injuries from Ashura were beginning to finally let up, but new ones were quickly replacing them.

The other kids saw him as an easy target to get their anger out- he wouldn't (couldn't) talk, so they wouldn't get in trouble for beating him to a pulp. He couldn't even yell anymore either, so now he was more like an inanimate object as far as they were concerned. As far as Fai was concerned, he might as well have been what they saw him. From being beaten so much, he'd learn to take it, and didn't even show any emotion when they came to beat him. The only things he ever did anymore were sleep, cry, shower, use the restroom, and a couple times a week- eat.

Fai wanted nothing more than to just die now. At least he could come back as a ghost to see Kurogane! Plus, he wouldn't ever have to worry about anything again. He seriously considered this as he lay awake on the floor, slouched in a corner. He couldn't sleep in his bed with Fuuka (that's who he had to bunk with- they had double as many kids as beds, so everyone had to double up) because he was afraid if he fell asleep what he'd do to him by accident.

It's not like the bed was any more comfortable than the floor, he thought. They're old mattresses that people donate; most of them don't even have bed frames! What makes the people that brought them in think that if their kid hates it or can't use it, we'll like it any better? The same goes for the toys, which are all broken and or ruined in some way. It doesn't seem fair, _but then again_, he reminded himself, _nothing's ever really 'fair' is it? _

--

Kurogane grumbled as his mom shook him to wake him up.

"C'mon Kurogane, you're going to be late for school again if you don't get up right now! I'm _not_ letting you miss again," she urged.

"But mom, I don't _want_ to go to school. I hate it!" He whined.

"Lately, you hate _everything_. You've retreated back into your shell lately and have been snapping at everyone. I'm worried about you honey," Tomoyo put a hand on his shoulder, and he slapped it off.

"I do _not_ snap at everything! Not any more than usual, that is," he seethed.

"Darling, you _just_ snapped at me. Listen to what you're saying every once in a while, okay? I know you miss Fai, but…" she started to comfort, but she was stopped by Kurogane's palm to her cheek. He'd actually slapped her. She sat there shocked for a few moments before he spoke.

"Mom, don't mention him. I just wanna forget all about him," he said, his head turned away and voice stern.

"No, you don't, and I can tell. I won't bother you anymore, but please think about it," she asked, looking worried as she left the room for him to change for school.

He'd been getting worse and worse lately. She could tell he missed Fai so badly that he'd retreated back to his old ways. _He's as bad now as when his father died,_ she remembered. These past three months had been rough on all of them, especially Fai. Tomoyo had to watch both of them come apart at the seams 24/7- Kurogane while she was awake and Fai while she slept. Of course, Kurogane was just missing Fai, but Fai had many other things that were hurting him. Kurogane wouldn't be as bad off if he'd just admit he was upset and missed Fai, but Fai couldn't really do too much differently.

If this pattern continued, Fai would end up killing himself on accident, by default, or on purpose. She only knew what was going to happen a few days ahead of time, and what she saw wasn't much. Fai mostly slept (she couldn't see others' dreams), and what little time he was awake was all in black and white, and was grainy like an old film. Fai looked like a walking corpse already, and she honestly wondered how much longer he could survive. She truly hoped he'd make it with all of her heart, but she wasn't quite sure. Everyday she prayed those three nice boys would help him out, but Fai kept pushing them away.

Since he was so far away and they were forbidden to see him anyways, all she could do was continue to watch and pray that things would get better soon.

--

Kurogane started crying again the moment his mom left. He wished she'd stop mentioning Fai because it didn't help. He wanted the year to hurry up, but it seemed to be moving at a snail's pace.

Last night he'd had another nightmare, just like every other night since they got back to Ohio. It was always more or less the same- Fai coming back only to have something horrible happen (like one of them dying or being taken away again). Kurogane was getting sick and tired of these dreams, and wished for one night he could have better ones.

He didn't want his mom to know how much he missed Fai, so he did what he had done after his dad died- he got angry. Worse than usual, that is. Even he had to admit that after a while, he hadn't been as bad anymore, and he'd gone almost totally soft during the cruise with Fai. All that was reversed now though, and he wasn't sure he could be anything _but_ this from here on out. It'd gotten so bad he was beating up kids again.

His mom saw right through him though, and he hated her for it. He didn't want anyone to know how hurt he was inside, much less his own mother. She kept trying to talk to him about it, but Kurogane didn't want to hear.

Sometimes, he honestly wished he'd have never met the blonde, despite the fact he loved him deeply. Sometimes, he wished a lot of things, but wishes don't always come true, now do they?

--

Fai was startled awake from another dream about Kurogane when someone, or maybe multiple someones, shook him. As he blinked a couple of times to see fully, he realized that Syaoran and Watanuki had been the ones shaking him.

When they realize he was awake, they stopped shaking him and Syaoran said, relieved, "Good, you're awake. They beat you up pretty badly- you fainted and everything. I'm pretty sure you fell asleep shortly after that though, because you looked more asleep than passed out."

Watanuki chimed in, "Yeah, I was worried you weren't gonna wake up!" Fai didn't respond, but they were already aware he didn't talk, so they just kept on talking.

"Yuui, we wanna show you something. We know how to get things around here- well, Fuuka does- and we think you'll enjoy this," Syaoran said offering a hand to Fai. He studied the hand for a moment before he took it shakily, and then Syaoran led him to their room, leaving Watanuki behind. Fai looked at Syaoran questioningly; he understood and began to explain to Fai what he was doing. Watanuki felt that Syaoran was more apt to tell Fai about this, for reasons of which neither one really understood. Syaoran supposed it was just a twin thing.

He just sighed and lifted up the mattress he and his twin shared, revealing two grocery bags. He kicked them out onto the floor, and expertly put the mattress back down without making a sound. Fai stared in amazement, and Syaoran just opened up the bags. Inside were sketchbooks, pencils, markers, paints, and paintbrushes. Fai's eyes opened wide, and he knelt down to touch them.

Syaoran smile, "I know, aren't they awesome? Fuuka's got connections! His friend from before we ended up here, Sakura, her dad owns an art supply store. She comes here every Friday and sometimes brings us things from the store! All three of us love art, so this gives us things to do during the day. We think you'd like drawing or painting because it'd give you some way to express yourself since you don't talk to anyone." Fai gasped at the mention of Sakura again- he really thought she was gone for good. But, he thought, if Fuuka knows her, then maybe they went to my school? He wanted to ask, but he really had no way of it. And while he really didn't want to get involved with people, he didn't think taking some art supplies would hurt.

He picked up a sketchbook and pencil tentatively, looking up at Syaoran as if to ask 'may I use this?' Syaoran nodded, and motioned for him to go ahead, but when Fai looked up at him nervously and didn't budge, he took the hint. Syaoran left to find Watanuki, and Fai waited until after he was gone to start drawing.

He'd never really drawn outside of art class, and what he'd drawn in art wasn't much. The first thing he drew was the room he was sitting in, but he quickly got bored with that. Suddenly, he realized he wanted to draw Kurogane, so he did.

It wasn't the best of drawings, but he still loved it. He then got the paints out and painted a second picture of Kurogane. This one was better, and he liked the colours. The first one had been Kurogane sitting on the floor, wearing the clothes that Tomoyo had designed for him. The second one was Kurogane lying down, asleep in his bed. Fai decided he was better at painting than using the markers, so he would paint Kurogane, Tomoyo, and maybe the three brothers and no one else. Especially not himself- he refused to ever draw any type of self-portrait.

He was still looking at the pictures when Fuuka came in and asked what he was doing. Fai just sat there and ignored him, so Fuuka peered over his shoulder to look at the picture Fai was holding. He asked who the boy was that occupied both images, but Fai gave no response whatsoever. Fuuka just sighed and left, thinking there was no way they'd ever get through to him.

--

"So, did he talk to you?" Syaoran asked when Fuuka returned. He shook his head in defeat and Syaoran cursed silently to himself.

"I guess he really _is_ mute then, which is too bad. If he could talk he might be able to, ya know, stand up for himself. It's really terrible to see him get beat up so badly, but we can't do too much about it," Syaoran admitted.

"Well, if we knew who'd all this, then maybe we could get to the bottom of it?" Fuuka suggested. Watanuki chose this moment to walk in, and he shot his hand up like he was trying to answer a question in school.

"Ooh! Ooh! I know! I bet it's that little snot Doumeki! He seems heartless enough to do something like that," Watanuki exclaimed excitedly.

"Who's heartless?" Doumeki asked flatly, popping up out of nowhere.

Watanuki exploded at this. "You! You never show any emotion! And you're so blatantly _rude_ too! If that's not 'heartless' I don't know what it!"

Syaoran grabbed one of Watanuki's arms, and Fuuka grabbed the other one to restrain him from harming Doumeki; who didn't seem fazed by this situation at all. Watanuki screamed after him as he calmly walked out the door, but they didn't let go of him until Doumeki was long out of sight. As soon as they did though, he ran after Doumeki, just as they figured he would.

Syaoran just sighed- he really wasn't up to chasing after Watanuki to calm him down. After all, he'd probably be caught running around by an attendant and be brought back here soon. Until then, Syaoran resolved to go search for the person who started the bullying and why.

--

The next day, Fuuka snuck out to meet Sakura as he always did on Fridays after she got out of school. Sometimes, she brought him extra art supplies, but they mostly just talked. This time, he had to update her on Yuui, which made her very upset. She wanted to know how he was doing, but it was still distressing to know it was only getting worse. He figured he could cheer her up by telling her what Watanuki had said about Doumeki. She started cracking up when he finished.

"He really said that? How funny!" She laughed.

"He really did! Whaddya think about _that_? I didn't think he'd pin it on him, maybe Seishiro, Kamui, or Saiga who kind of scare me sometimes, but not Doumeki! I mean, he may not ever show emotion, but he's not a mean person!" Fuuka explained, shivering as he remembered how creepy those three were known to be.

"Hee hee, ya know what my friend Himiwari said when I told her about Watanuki and Doumeki? She said maybe Watanuki secretly _likes_ Doumeki and he's just hiding it!" She giggled.

Syaoran blushed. "Sakura! They're….they're both _guys_!"

"I know that, silly! That didn't stop Kazahaya and Rikuo, remember? Don't they remind you a bit of Watanuki and Doumeki? I still think they secretly like each other. Ooh and my brother and his 'friend' Yukito…" she counted off nonchalantly, as if this didn't faze her one bit. Syaoran just blinked a few times, the look on his face one of sheer horror. He wasn't even sure what to say at a time like this, so he waited for her to continue.

"Fuuka? Are you okay?" She frowned. He snapped out of his freaking-out mode and assured her he was fine, but that he had to go before someone realized he was gone.

They said goodbye, and he turned around to sneak back through the window, but she grabbed his arm before he could. She'd never hugged him before, but she decided to today. Why, he didn't know, but he wasn't about to ask either.

After she pulled away, she blushed and took off running. Fuuka smiled to himself as he climbed back through the window where Syaoran awaited him. In his re-telling of what had just happened, he conveniently left out the last few things Sakura had said, focusing mainly on the fact she hugged him. Syaoran said that it was no secret they liked each other, and was happy something was finally happening, which made Fuuka blush.

Watanuki walked into the room moments later, and when Fuuka saw him his blush deepened and he had to turn away. He really couldn't face him for a little while after what Sakura had said. Really, he didn't wanna face _any_ of the guys for a bit. Her comment had freaked him out so much he was starting to imagine people who were friends more or less being something…else. It was a whole week before he convinced himself it was nonsense. I mean, Fuuma and Kamui? Seishiro and Subaru? Saiga and Kakei? Now that's just _silly_.

--

A/N: Woot woot! I'm done with the angst! Although this chapter is only half of it, I've typed it all. It was originally one chapter, but it was 8,000 words so I made it into two. Plus, there was just _way_ too much going on, so it needed to be broken up a bit.

Anywhoo, I've got some major news- I'm finished writing iznm! Yes, I do mean that. It has 9 chapters total, and here's the best part- there's going to be an iznm 2! I have yet to think of a name, but I will soon (if anyone has an idea, please tell me)!

So, I believe it's just about review time! Oh, and if you're confused, just be patient 'cuse I'll explain everything in chapter 8! :]


	9. Chapter 8: Trouble

A/N: Hey guys! I'm back with some more angst! I really don't have much to say, so I'll just let you read. Remember though that next chapter is the very last one in iznm, so after that look for the sequel soon! One thing though, remember Fuuka is clone Syaoran and Syaoran is original Syaoran!

Okay, you can read now.

--

Trouble

Watanuki sighed; he really didn't want to do this. Fuuka had convinced him (after a week of not talking to him) that he should really try talking to Doumeki. Apparently, Sakura and her friend Himiwari both thought that they could be good friends. Watanuki would beg to differ, but Fuuka and Syaoran had forced him.

As he peered into the room Doumeki stayed in (there were two rooms for his age group), he saw him sitting there talking to a boy Watanuki hadn't seen around much. He had long black hair that he'd pulled into a ponytail and glasses; he almost looked like he was threatening Doumeki. Watanuki paused at the door, and then decided to hide behind a corner until the boy left.

When he stormed out of the room, Watanuki nervously stumbled in. as he stood there, he was given a blank stare by a very confused Doumeki. He'd never seen Watanuki so calm that it almost made him laugh…_almost_. The best he got was a smirk, which sent Watanuki into rage.

"What do _you_ have to smirk about? I came in here against my will to talk to you, and you laugh at me? I'm just gonna leave if that's how it's gonna be," Watanuki hmphed. He started out the door, but Doumeki grabbed his arm as he did. This produced a gasp from Watanuki, and he shook the other boy's hand off his arm.

He wasn't about to try and leave again though, so he just sat on the floor instead.

"Okay, I won't leave, what do you want?" He sighed.

"I dunno. You tell me," Doumeki said flatly.

"Well, for starters, would you care to tell me who that boy was that left?"

"That was Kyle. He wanted me to…hey wait, you know Yuui, don't you?"

"Yeah, Fuuka bunks with him and Syaoran's decided we've gotta protect him…why?" Watanuki questioned.

"Well, Kyle asked me, no, threatened me to join him. He wants Yuui destroyed- why, I don't know, but he does." Doumeki shrugged.

"_What_?! Are you _serious_? _He's _responsible for all this? I've gotta tell Syaoran!" Watanuki exclaimed, but didn't get up to leave just yet.

"Okay, whatever. I'm leavin' now," Doumeki sighed as he stood up and walked towards the door.

"Wait!" Watanuki called after him, surprising them both. Doumeki, shocked, turned around and raised an eyebrow suspiciously, his face still blank.

"For what, exactly?" He questioned.

"Well, you're not getting off that easily. I came here to talk to you, so I'm going to talk to you!" Watanuki blushed.

"Okay," Doumeki walked back into the room and sat opposite Watanuki on the floor, "What did you wanna talk about?"

"Why don't you ever show any emotion?" Watanuki asked suddenly.

"Do I have to tell you?" Doumeki looked almost worried.

"Yes. I want to know," he insisted.

"Fine. I came from a small town in southern Canada- we were kind of in the mountains. It was unacceptable for people there to show emotion in public. I was raised like that, and when my parents were killed by the flu I was sent here for protection. The flu epidemic was very bad that winter, so they decided I would be better off her than there. This was the closest orphanage…" Doumeki shrugged off like it was nothing.

Watanuki was speechless for a solid minute. "I…I…I had n-no idea…" he sniffled, tears in his eyes. "I feel bad for hating you so much! I mean, my parents died too, but that kind of life is horrible!"

"It's not horrible if it's the only thing you know," he pointed out.

"True, but that doesn't mean you should keep living like that once you came here? You _do_ know it's perfectly normal to show emotion here, right?" Watanuki asked tentatively.

"Yrs, I do. I'm not stupid. It's just hard to change the way you were raised is all."

"I…I could help you if you wanted me to," Watanuki offered shyly.

Doumeki almost smiled at this, but in the end he wasn't able to quite yet. Watanuki could tell he was trying though, and laughed.

"It's not funny," he frowned.

"Sorry, I just can't picture you actually smiling! It's just so out of character for you…" Watanuki giggled.

"Whatever, I'm gonna go find Kamui. He's probably running from Fuuma though, so I'll just ask Fuuma where he is. Unless Fuuma's lecturing his brother about how it's wrong for a 17 year old to like a 12 year old, then I really don't wanna butt in." he said and got up to leave again. _Funny, I didn't know he was friends with Kamui. And I wonder who Seishiro likes? _Watanuki thought, but didn't stop Doumeki from leaving. He simply called 'goodbye' after him. Doumeki just waved as he turned the corner.

For a few moments, Watanuki just sat there, amazed at what had just happened before he remembered he needed to go talk to Syaoran. He _had_ to know that Kyle was the one responsible!

--

Syaoran exploded when Watanuki told him the news, but he calmed down in a few moments.

"Okay, so we need a plan. Maybe we should go ask him why he's doing this?"

"I guess we could try that…I don't wanna go though- he seems scary. You go!" Watanuki shrieked, picturing what would happen if he went- none of them ended pretty. Syaoran was tougher though, and might be able to handle him.

"Fine, if you refuse to go I will. You better find Fuuka and tell him what's going on though. I think he's out with Sakura right now, so go wait by the window," Syaoran sighed and pointed towards the window Fuuka always used.

These days, all Fuuka talked about was Sakura, so he didn't even bother talking to him much. Maybe Watanuki would have more luck.

--

It didn't take long to find Kyle. He cursed himself for not getting there sooner though, because when he _did_ find him he was threatening a bruised and bleeding Yuui, Syaoran's guess was that he'd just beaten him up.

He rushed over, stood in front of Yuui, and glared at Kyle.

"Touch him again and die," he growled.

"My, my, someone's cocky today," Kyle laughed.

"What do you want with Yuui? He didn't do anything wrong to you!" Syaoran yelled, tears evident in his eyes.

"Ah, I'm sure Yuui can tell you, as we were just discussing that very matter…or rather, I was telling him because he refused to talk to me. It seems you two are good friends, so maybe he'll talk to _you_," he pretended to be hurt by the fact Yuui wouldn't (couldn't) talk.

"You and I both know he can't talk. Now tell me, why are you doing this? He's innocent!" Syaoran cried.

"No, he's not. Believe it or not he's the whole reason I'm here. My dad was a lawyer in a case with him. When he lost, due to Yuui, my dad sent me here to be mean to him. He kicked me out of the house, disowned me, and left me all alone because of that boy. I hate him with a burning passion," Kyle seethed; rage building in his once again.

"Wait, wait, that makes absolutely no sense! Why would Yuui ever do anything wrong? And even _that_ doesn't give you an excuse to beat him up like you do!" Syaoran cried.

"I believe it does. My dad's a lawyer, so I have the law on my side," he snarled, pushing Syaoran to the ground so he could kneel in front of Yuui. He glared into Yuui's eyes and punched him square in the left eye before Syaoran could do anything about it. Kyle laughed creepily and punched him twice more before getting up and motioning for the others to come with him.

As soon as they left, Syaoran rushed over to Yuui and inspected his eye. It was already bruising up pretty badly- he was hit hard.

"Hey, Yuui, hold your hand over your right eye and tell me how many fingers I'm holding up," he asked as he held up four fingers. Yuui replied by shrugging and making a zero with his left hand.

"Does that mean you can't see out of it?" Syaoran inquired, and Yuui just nodded.

"Oh geez, this is bad. What to do, what to do…" he got up and frantically started pacing the room.

"I'll have to think of something, but first we have to clean up those injuries," Syaoran decided. He figured Yuui couldn't walk, so he carried him to the bathroom to wash out his fresh cuts.

After doing so, he sighed and ripped off a strip of his dingy grey shirt and rinsed it off before tying it around Yuui's eye like a makeshift eye patch. It was the best he could do considering he was no medical expert and the attendants that worked here never helped him. He'd tried to explain what was going on before, but they never listened.

He sighed as he realized Yuui had either fallen asleep or passed out in the corner of the bathroom. He decided the bed would be more comfortable and cleaner than this floor, so he picked him up and sat him down on the mattress he and Fuuka shared.

When that was done, he went to go find Watanuki and tell him what'd happened. He found him in the last place he expected him to be- in Doumeki's room. They were sitting on what was presumably Doumeki's bed and talking. Watanuki wasn't yelling and Doumeki was-hold on- were his eyes failing him or was Doumeki almost smiling? Things just kept getting creepier and creepier around here.

--

A few weeks later, Syaoran almost forgot he had brothers. Watanuki was with Doumeki and his friends all the time, and Fuuka was meeting with Sakura nearly every day now. It appeared that both of them were preoccupied, so he was left to protect Yuui by himself. Ever since that confrontation with Kyle, things were getting much worse. Syaoran didn't think that was possible, but apparently it was.

Yuui wasn't making it easy on himself either, what with falling asleep in the most obscure places so Syaoran couldn't find him. Kyle somehow always managed to get to him first, so all Syaoran could do was help Yuui afterwards. He seriously wondered why Yuui wouldn't just accept his help, but since he couldn't talk he would never know. He couldn't help but wonder if he'd even let Syaoran clean his wounds out if he actually ad enough strength in him at the time. He'd probably get up and walk away if he could, but they both knew he couldn't easily walk for a few hours after they'd beaten him.

Also, he still wondered what he did to Kyle's dad's case that was so bad. No one else seemed to know, or at least they pretended they had no clue. All Syaoran could guess was that Yuui had done nothing wrong and Kyle was just evil. From the looks of it, Kyle's dad was pretty evil too. So it was up to him to keep doing his best to get to the bottom of things and keep Yuui safe; which was obviously easier said than done.

--

Fai touched his tender, swollen eye carefully; wincing as he did. He slowly lifted up his eye patch and covered his right eye, which nearly brought him to tears. It wasn't just tears from pain, but tears from the horrible realization that he still couldn't see out of it.

He was getting used to only being able to see out of one eye, but he preferred to have both. Actually, he'd prefer it if Kyle would stop hurting him, but that wasn't going to happen either. He still couldn't believe that Fei's _son_ was the cause of all this. I mean, why would Fei be angry? Was it because of Ashura? Fai shook hi head- this wasn't something he could do anything about.

Instead, he should focus on Syaoran, Watanuki, and Fuuka. He had _no _idea why they (mainly Syaoran) were so dedicated to helping him. Fai fended on his own for a while, so why couldn't they just leave him alone? He really hated Syaoran searching for him, making him eat, and cleaning him up after a beating- he wasn't a baby!

So, all Fai could do was find obscure places to hide all day in hopes Syaoran wouldn't discover him. This worked, but Kyle and his gang always ended up finding him while he was busy sleeping or painting. A beating and teasing ensued, then Syaoran would find him about fifteen minutes later. He got used to it, but that didn't mean he liked it. If he could get up and run away to hide when Syaoran found him he would, but they both knew that wasn't possible. Syaoran would just carry him to the filthy bathroom, sit him on the floor that made him sick to even look at, and do the best he could to take care of his cuts without undressing him. He tried that once, and Fai had scrambled away as best as he could. He did _not_ want to trouble Syaoran by making him see what was under his clothes. He was so skinny now that he knew you could see his bones; along with the many scars, bruises, and gashes that covered him head to toe. Let's just say after the freaked out look on Fai's face, Syaoran never tried _that _again.

Fai kind of felt bad for this, but it was mainly for his own sake. He really didn't want anyone to see the terrible condition of his body anymore than he himself did. The only times he had to was when he showered and when he changed; and he'd prefer to keep it down to that. He looked like a zombie or something nowadays- what with his ragged eye patch, long and dirty hair, bruised and pale skin, torn and dirty clothing, and no shoes or socks to speak of. If he hadn't wanted to look in the mirror a few months ago, he certainly didn't want to _now_. He felt sorry for poor Kurogane- whenever the year was up (it had already felt like at least three though…) and he came back for him like he was hoping, he was in for a shock and a half. All he could do was hope he wouldn't turn away from him because of all this.

--

Soon, this was became the norm- Syaoran did his best to help a boy who didn't want any, Watanuki and Doumeki became the best of friends, and Fuuka started dating Sakura. Actually, Sakura's dad's friend- Fujitaka- adopted him. Syaoran and Watanuki missed their little brother, but they knew he was better off where he was now. As for Watanuki, well, Syaoran didn't know what was up with him. Any mention of Doumeki's name and his face flushed immediately. He seemed different somehow too, but Syaoran couldn't put his finger on what the change was. He really didn't even _want_ to know what was going on anymore, so he resigned himself to simply protecting Yuui (who _still_ didn't want any help- even after all these months).

One day, everything changed though- it was the worst he'd been beaten in a long time. When he found him, the first thing he noticed was the spoon lying by the door. The handle had been sharpened on something so that it could be used to cut someone. Syaoran took this as a very bad sign, and winced as he looked over to Yuui. When he walked up to him, he sat down to inspect the damage.

His right eye had a large gash under it; his left eye (which seemed to be finally healing from the most recent set of punches to it) was once again swollen and black. This was the fifth or sixth time he'd been repeatedly punched in it, and he was fairly certain Yuui was permanently blind in it by now. Both of Yuui's arms were gashed up and already showing fresh bruises, both his pant legs were cut up- exposing more gashes, and his shirt was the same way. As he watched Yuui lay there unconscious, he seriously thought the poor boy was going to die. He rushed over and held him, tears streaming down his face. Even while unconscious, Yuui had a pained look on his face.

He was crying so hard and was so distracted by his own thoughts that what happened next scared him stiff because he wasn't expecting it.

--

**A/N:** Whew! I'm glad that's finally over with! I apologize for the terrible OOC-ness/ angst/ cliffhanger…well, maybe not the cliffhanger. :] I'm glad I finally got more characters in this story, even if they _are _only in it for a short while. So many characters getting mentioned creates a rather large problem for me as the author though, because now I won't have nearly as many people to use for when I write about Kurogane's school. As well, the Fuuma/Kamui, Seishiro/Subaru, Saiga/Kakei joke was _definitely_ worth it if I do say so myself.

Because this chapter has so many little parts to it, let me clarify a few things for you:

Yes, Fai is Yuui, in case you've forgotten. The people at the orphanage don't know any better, so I tried to only use the name Fai it was from his own POV. It was really weird for me to write Yuui instead of Fai, but I had to do it.

I know I said this in the opening AN, but Fuuka= clone!Syaoran.

Yes, I _know_ that half the people I mention are older, but they're all under 18 here- it's a children's orphanage.

Don't ask me what city this is in, or what city Doumeki came from, because I don't know as of now. I'm not entirely sure there's even an orphanage in Washington, or that some town in Canada's mountains lives like the town Doumeki came from. I simply got the idea in health class- the teacher said something about how in some cultures it wasn't acceptable to show emotion and I immediately thought of Doumeki (yes, sadly I am _that_ obsessed).

Okay, I think I'm all done rambling now, but if I missed anything that confused you let me know! And I'm gonna type chapter 8 right after I finish this a/n, so it should be up in about a week (it all depends on how much homework I have.

Anywhoo, RRREEEVVVIIIEEEWWWSSS!!!


	10. Chapter 9: Reunion

**A/N:** Hey guys! I'm back, and I bring you chapter NINW!! 8D This is the very last chapter, and I'm super excited! I really don't want it to be over, but it won't be 'cuse I've gotta finish 52 themes _and_ write the bonus chapter.

Anywhoo, let's get onto the story, shall we? You're probably dying from suspense by now (or maybe not…). And I'm sorry (not really xP) if you _are_, but you won't find out for a little while longer. Kurogane's part must come first!

Reunion

One July morning, Kurogane woke up before the sun rose in the best mood he'd been in since last July. He didn't even really care if his mom made fun of him for being so out of character today- for today was July thirteenth, the day he would take a plane with his mom up to Washington to get Fai on the fourteenth.

He bounded into his mom's room and jumped on her bed to wake her.

"My, my, somebody's excited today!" Tomoyo laughed, pulling her son into a tight hug. "But that's expected considering what day it is! I must say, I didn't expect you to wake me up at the crack of dawn! You know our plane doesn't leave until 4:15 pm and we're only staying two nights…"

"I know, it's just…I'm just…" Kurogane fumbled, blushing. Tomoyo just giggled and patted him on the head.

"It's okay. I know you're excited. You have every right to be. Now, let me get packed and I'll fix some breakfast. I assume you're already packed?" She asked.

"No! Psch…why would I be packed already?" He shrugged off, and went to his room to 'pack'. In reality, he'd been packed for weeks. Tomoyo knew this, of course, and just laughed as he ran into his room.

She was rather excited about today as well, because as of two days ago she was fully convinced things would be okay…mostly. At least things didn't go as bad as she'd feared, but the outcome did trace a fine line. She was willing to take that though, because if the worst happened she didn't know what she'd do with herself, or what Kurogane would do.

That didn't happen though, so she had to think more positively. She even let herself hum a happy tune as she packed and fixed pancakes with bacon.

--

At 2:45, they left the house and drove to the airport, which was about fifteen minutes away (Kurogane insisted they get there as early as possible). They got plane tickets, went through the long security line, and then loaded the suitcase they were sharing onto the luggage drop-off. Just that ended up taking almost an hour, so Kurogane had to yell 'I told you so' to his mom. She was just relieved it took that long so she wouldn't have to deal with her impatient son while they waited for it to be 4:15. Not that she didn't think it was cute, but she already had to deal with it on the planes- if she remembered correctly they had to switch planes somewhere around Kansas.

They boarded the plane about four o'clock, and Tomoyo could feel Kurogane's apprehension for what would happen tomorrow. He wasn't talking much, so for the first hour of the ride she decided to try napping. She'd only gotten about three hours of sleep last night because she, too, was nervous.

She didn't nap for long though, because Kurogane started shaking her and yelling frantically.

"Mom! Mom! I left it at home! I left it at home!" He shrieked, and the surrounding passengers gave them a weird look.

"You left _what_ at home?" She asked, trying to fathom what he would leave that'd make him this upset.

"The outfit! I left the outfit at home! I know you made me make it, but…I wanted to give it to him!" He cried, pulling on his mother's coat.

"Calm down sweetie, it's okay. We can give it to him when we get back, okay?" She comforted. The passengers were still trying to figure out what was going on.

"Okay," Kurogane said softly, and returned to his former state of looking out the window.

--

About two hours later, they arrived in Topeka, Kansas where they were set to switch planes. It was _way_ more trouble than it's worth- it took over an hour to get all the people and suitcases onto the other plane. When they finally got off the ground again, it was nearly 8 pm. Neither one of them were tired yet, so they ate some horrible plane food and discussed what they were doing once they got there.

"What hotel are we staying in mom?"

"Remember, you insisted we stay in the same one as last year? I already booked a room, but don't worry, it's not the same one as last time," she assured him.

"Thanks. I dunno if any of us would be able to take that," he shivered, remembering last year. After that, they were silent for a while until something hit Kurogane. He couldn't believe in all the times he'd pictured what would happen tomorrow this had never once occurred to him.

"Uhh, m-mom? I can't believe this just hit me but…well, if you adopt Fai he'd be my _brother._ Now that's just creepy, don't you think?"

"Yes, I do know that. So, I have a plan. I thought I told you already, but apparently not. You _do_ remember your aunt Amaterasu, right?"

"Yeah, sure…what about her?" Kurogane was almost afraid to know where this was going.

"Well, I talked to her about this, but don't worry I didn't say why we couldn't him. She said she'd be delighted to help me out, so she let me borrow her ID and information so I could pose as her! If things go correctly, which they will, _she'll_ be the legal guardian of Fai. That would make you two step-cousins, and since you kept your father's last name you won't even have to worry about that!" Tomoyo clapped excitedly, and the surrounding passengers looked very afraid of her. Some of them were the same as last time, and by now they were thoroughly freaked out by them.

"Mom, are you _serious_?" Kurogane was actually a bit scared too, and he dealt with this daily.

"Why of course I am! Ohoho!" She laughed, and the area they were sitting in went dead silent for a solid minute. That is, until someone made a cricket noise a few rows back, which sent them all into howling laughter.

--

The rest of the plane ride passed quickly, and they arrived in Washington at almost midnight. By the time they got all their things and checked into the hotel, it was after one am. They were both too excited to sleep though, so they watched TV until Tomoyo declared they _had_ to get sleep otherwise they'd never have enough energy for tomorrow.

Kurogane had a hard time falling asleep, but eventually exhaustion took over and he slept for an entire three hours. Tomoyo couldn't sleep either, but she too was eventually taken over by exhaustion.

--

They had set the alarm for nine am so they could eat the free continental breakfast before it closed at ten. Checkout was at eleven, but that didn't matter for them today since they were staying one more night.

They left at eleven anyways though, so that they could go to the orphanage. When they arrived, the sign on the door said 'No visitors/ adopting parents until three pm today. Thank you.', so they decided to look around town some more until then. Anything to get their minds off of what would happen later, because thinking about it made both of them very, very nervous.

--

When three o'clock rolled around, they quickly headed back to the orphanage. This time, they got a better look at the place. It looked relatively new, but they could see through the windows and the place looked absolutely filthy. They shivered in disgust as they walked in the door, only to find out that it actually looked _worse_ inside. There were little children running around everywhere; all of them looked like they hadn't had a proper shower or clean clothes in quite some time. They looked to be having fun though, so that was a good sign.

"Hello ma'am, may I help you?" The clerk at the front desk asked politely when she noticed them standing there.

"Yes, I'm here to adopt someone," Tomoyo replied as calmly as possible, walking up to the front desk.

"Okay, do you need some time to walk around?"

"No. We'd like to adopt Fai, er, Yuui D. Fluorite," she was surprised at how calm her voice was coming out.

"Okay then, I'll need to see some ID before I hand you the paperwork."

Tomoyo pulled out her sister's ID and prayed this would work. The lady at the desk looked at the picture, then to Tomoyo and nodded. "Okay, Ms. Daidoji, please fill out these forms," she said as she pulled out about thirty pages of papers to read and sign.

She glanced back at the ID and gasped. "Oh my, last name Daidoji…there was something about that…" She started, and Tomoyo held her breath. The girl looked through a stack of no longer sticky post-it notes for a few minutes, then she obviously found what she was looking for because her eyes lit up. "Found it!" She called, "'Do not let anyone with the last name of Daidoji or Suwa adopt Yuui Fluorite before July thirteenth of next year.' The date on this is July fourteenth of last year, so I should throw it out. I apologize ma'am- you're okay," she smiled and handed the whopping stack of papers to Tomoyo, who ran back to Kurogane waving them around like a moron.

"I've got them! I've got them!" She shrieked, and began diligently filling them out. After she got through the first three or four though, she sighed heavily.

"This is _way_ too much to read!" She complained, "why don't you go ask where Fai, er Yuui is so you can talk to him? I can tell that you can't wait much longer."

Kurogane tried to compose himself enough to ask, but he was horribly failing. He managed to calm down enough to say 'where's Yuui?' and for her to give directions to his room though. It was all he could do not to run and burst into the room, but instead he waited in the doorway until he could no longer feel his heart pounding in his chest.

When he finally achieved that, he noticed someone was crying inside the room. Maybe Fai wasn't alone in there? He peered into the doorway to see what was going on, and when he did his heart nearly stopped. He stumbled into the room, and stood there with his mouth agape in awe of what he was witnessing.

I mean, he expected Fai to look a bit different, but not…_this._ What he saw was Fai, who was either passed out or…no, he refused to think that. Some guy about their age was holding him so Kurogane couldn't see Fai all too well. What he could see, however, made him scream, cry, and run to snatch Fai from the boy's arms.

As he looked at Fai more carefully, he noticed he was wearing some mort of ripped cloth as an eye patch, and if he couldn't tell he was breathing he'd have sworn Fai was dead.

He had a huge, bleeding slash under the eye without an eye patch, and his face was filthy. His hair was way too long, and it was gross. It looked like it probably hadn't been washed properly in weeks!

That wasn't even the worst part, either. Although he was wearing a long-sleeved shirt, Kurogane could see how bad of shape he was in. his shirt was beyond soiled, and it was ripped open in about five places. Under all those rips he could see either bruises or gashes, and he could see his ribs too. He could feel how much weight he'd lost; he estimated about twenty pounds. Fai was tiny before, but now he looked like one of those anorexic models; but Kurogane could tell that _wasn't_ why he was so skinny.

Kurogane shifted his gaze down to Fai's legs. He was wearing shorts, and his legs and pants looked to be in the same condition as his arms and torso were. He had no idea how this had happened or who did it, but if this boy had anything to do with it he swore he'd kill him. He made a promise to himself and basically to Fai that he'd never let anything bad happen to Fai ever again, and then _this_ happens. He glared at the boy- even if he had nothing to do with Fai's current state, he didn't particularly like what he saw when he came in. Fai was his and his alone.

The boy was now blushing and giving Kurogane a deer in the headlights look. He'd obviously frightened him when he appeared out of nowhere and yelled like that.

"What did you do to Fai?" Kurogane bellowed.

"I…I…wait…who's Fai? This is Yuui, isn't it?" The boy replied innocently.

"Oops….what did you do to _Yuui_?"

"I swear it wasn't me!" The boy cried, "It was Kyle! But why did you wanna know in the first place?"

" 'Cuse I have the right to know. What were you doing just then?" Kurogane seethed.

"I…I…it's not what you think! Can I explain?"

"I don't know, can you?" Kurogane asked sarcastically.

"I…I'm sorry…_may _I explain?" Syaoran asked meekly, now very afraid of Kurogane (which is exactly what Kurogane was going for).

"Go ahead, that's what I wanted you to do…moron," Kurogane huffed, pulling Fai closer.

--

Syaoran told Kurogane the whole story, from the day Fai showed up to this very day. By the end, over an hour had passed and Tomoyo hadn't come nor had Fai awoken.

"So, that's all true? He…he can't talk?" Kurogane held back tears.

"I'm afraid so. By the way, remember the part about him painting? Well, like I said, I've never actually seen them but they're under his mattress. I'll go get them for you to see," Syaoran offered.

He walked over to Fai's mattress, lifted it up, and pulled out the bag with his supplies in it. He carefully pulled out the large sketchbook and handed it slowly to Kurogane.

The moment he opened it up and saw what was in it, he could no longer hold back tears. Flipping through the pages, he was thoroughly amazed by Fai's artistic abilities. It touched (and slightly embarrassed) him to find that every last one of them was of him. He didn't believe Syaoran before when he said there was nothing between them, but he did now.

All the pictures showed Kurogane by himself in various places on the ship or what he guessed Fai thought was his room. Fai wasn't in any of them, which kind of made him upset. It didn't matter though, because he knew Fai still loved him, and he wanted him to wake up _right now_- Kurogane couldn't wait much longer.

"So, all of them are of you. What exactly are you to him?" Syaoran asked suspiciously.

Kurogane decided to freak him out. He planned on doing this anyways, not because he actually believed in all that fairy tale crap, but because he couldn't wait 'till he was awake.

He leaned down and kissed Fai. When nothing happened, his heart sank. He hated to admit it, but maybe he did actually believe it'd make Fai wake up. It did, however, succeed in totally scaring Syaoran.

"Oh…I see…well, I think I'll just be going now…" Syaoran got up and began to back out the door.

"Oh no you don't. You're taking me to Kyle first. Or rather, you're staying here with fa- dang it! You're staying here with _Yuui_ and telling me where Kyle is," Kurogane said flatly, and handed Fai to Syaoran.

Syaoran gave Kurogane directions to three places Kyle hung out a lot, and Kurogane was off.

--

The first place was a no-go, so he decided to try the third. He wasn't there either, so of course the one he skipped to save time only caused him to spend even more time walking around.

When he reached the second place, there was a lone boy sitting on a bed- he looked exactly as Syaoran had described Kyle. Kurogane grinned maliciously and prepared himself for a fight.

He strolled casually into the room. "So, Kyle, I heard about what you did to Yuui," he said coolly, still feeling weird about calling Fai Yuui.

"Yeah, so what? You wanna join me? 'Cuse you look pretty tough."

Kurogane shivered, "Help you? I'm here because I'm adopting him. Or rather, my…aunt is. Ooh, and by the way, I know your dad, Fei. I'm Kurogane Suwa. My mom's Tomoyo Daidoji- you may remember our names from the court case?"

"_You're _him?" Kyle's eyes got wide, "I didn't picture Kurogane Suwa being so…tough. Considering what happened at the hearing and all," Kyle snickered.

"I ought to punch you for that," Kurogane sneered, and then stepped forward and punched Kyle in the nose. Kyle kicked him, and Kurogane laughed. He wasn't that strong compared to Kurogane, whose anger in the past year enabled him to get up to a third degree black belt. He easily took down Kyle in two minutes flat, and just laughed as he watched Kyle writhe in pain. He'd never gotten so much enjoyment out of beating someone up in his entire life, but this was only miniscule to the pain he'd caused Fai.

He headed back to Fai's room quickly, only to find Tomoyo holding Fai and crying. Syaoran as giving her the gist of what happened this past year, and even though she already knew she was crying real tears- seeing it in real life was a million times worse than her dreams.

"Mom…" Kurogane started, but she silenced him by placing Fai down and hugging him instead.

"I'll be okay, I promise. I'm finally finished with the papers, so we can take him back to the hotel now. Remember, the plane doesn't leave until the morning, and I can grantee he'll be up by then," Tomoyo comforted.

"You're leaving?" Syaoran asked, looking upset.

"Yes, I'm afraid we are. Goodbye Syaoran, and thank you," Tomoyo smiled sadly as she got up to leave.

Kurogane carried Fai to the car, and she didn't even make him buckle up- she just let him hold Fai.

--

Later on that night, Tomoyo announced she was starving and needed food. Kurogane refused to let go of Fai, and said he wasn't hungry, so she let him stay there.

Kurogane didn't even turn on the TV while she was gone; he just sat there waiting for Fai to wake up. It'd been about six hours since Syaoran said he'd found Fai like this, and he was still passed out. Kurogane was getting worried, but his mom was always right so he believed what she'd said.

About thirty minutes after Tomoyo left to go find a place to eat, Kurogane heard Fai move- he swore he did. Nothing happened for a few minutes, and he figured he'd just imagined it. That is, until he saw the eye that _wasn't _covered by an eye patch opened slowly. He blinked a few times to make sure what he was seeing was real. Fai's eye sparkled with tears, and in moments tears were streaming down his cheeks. He leaned up and touched Kurogane's cheek, as if to make sure this wasn't a dream, then he pulled his face up and kissed him.

He looked like he really wanted to say something, but when he opened his mouth up no words formed. Kurogane decided to speak instead.

"I missed you too. But you know what? You are truly an idiot for not letting Syaoran help you," Kurogane scolded, but couldn't help smiling as he did. Fai just smiled a sad, guilty smile and kissed him again.

"Man, I wish you could talk! It would make things so much easier…" Kurogane accidentally thought out loud. Fai frowned, then looked around the room. His eyes got large, and Kurogane assumed he remembered what hotel this was.

"Don't worry, it's not the same one as last time," Kurogane comforted. Fai sighed, and his eyes skipped around the room. They landed on the bag with his art supplies in it. He pointed frantically at it, so Kurogane got up to get it. Fai started sniffling when he did though, so he hurried back and sat on the bed. Fai scrambled onto his lap again, and took the sketchbook from Kurogane. He flipped through the pages slowly until he found the one he wanted.

It was Kurogane asleep on what he assumed was his bed looked like. He wasn't too far off, actually.

"I saw these earlier. What about this one?" He asked. Fai just looked at him, and he sighed before continuing with a yes or no question. "Is this your favourite?" Fai nodded yes hysterically, slightly smiling and blushing. Kurogane got the hint and set the sketchbook down on the floor. He lifted Fai up and sat him under the covers, and then he got in as well. He pulled Fai close to him and sighed.

"I cannot _believe_ you wanna sleep. You _just_ woke up!" Fai yawned, making no noise, and Kurogane realized they were both exhausted- regardless of how much sleep they'd had (for Fai this was a lot, and for Kurogane it was almost none). Even though it was only about eight thirty, they both fell right to sleep and didn't even wake up when Tomoyo came back at nearly ten pm.

--

The next morning was hectic- what with Tomoyo fawning over Fai, Kurogane taking care of his wounds as best as he could with the medical kit his mom bought last night, and Fai barely staying awake. They made him stay up long enough to eat a decent meal, and Kurogane could tell by the way he ate it that he hadn't had edible food in a year. He still wasn't talking, but they were okay with that. He'd talk whenever he was able to, and they'd wait patiently until then. They just hoped that 'whenever he was able to' came very soon.

--

They finished up, got packed, and were ready to leave at eleven. As they all stood there getting ready to leave the hotel, Tomoyo started crying.

"What's wrong mom?"

"N-nothing. I…I'm just so happy!"

"You're being sappy. C'mon guys, let's go," he urged.

"Yeah, let's go home," Tomoyo smiled through her tears. She grabbed the suitcase handle, and Fai grabbed Kurogane's hand, smiling a sad smile. Kurogane sighed and started walking behind his mom to the elevator.

He watched the numbers go down, and he swore to himself right then and there he'd keep his promise from now on. He'd never let anyone harm Fai again. He felt horrible for not being able to help him twice, even though both times were outside of his control. He didn't know if Fai would ever be the same again, but Kurogane would do whatever he could to help. They would make it through whatever was thrown at them next…together.

Le~end

**A/N:** I seriously cannot believe that I'm finished with iznm! It doesn't feel like it should be over already…

I don't particularly like the ending, but oh well. I've started on iznm 2 already, so hopefully that will be much better than iznm! I'm not sure what it'll turn out like, but I have a feeling I won't like it as much as iznm.

Anyways, PLEASEPLEASEPLEASE review this chapter! I'd like to know what you thought of this as a whole, what your favourite chapter was, and why.

And now, it's time for some iznm stats!

Pages: 92 (that's including a/n's)

Words: 38,000 (approximate word count)

CLAMP characters: 23 (correct me if I'm wrong, please!)

Longest chapter: 2

Shortest chapter: 6

Fastest written chapter(s): 6 & 9

Slowest written chapter(s): 2, 7 & 8 (I still count 7 & 8 as one chapter in my mind...)

Chapter(s) I had the most fun writing: 1 & 2

Chapter(s) I love to read: 4

Chapter(s) I'm most proud of: 7 & 8

Fans' favourite chapter(s): (I'll add this when enough people tell me!)


	11. Epilogue

A/N: Hello fellow TRC (well, mainly iznm) fans! I come bearing some much needed kurofai fluffies after those rather depressing last chapters. I was going to make a sequel, but I've decided not to now… Anywho, please still enjoy this little epilogue! It's basically about the first day after they get home. Ooh, and watch for the part with Fai and Kurogane and the bathroom (it's nothing bad, I promise!); it seriously reminds me of some other anime. If you can guess what it is, you'll get…something! I honestly have no idea what it will be yet, but I'll figure something out. And by the way, it's a pretty popular manga/anime so it shouldn't be too hard! :]

All right, you may read now. I don't feel like ranting much today (you got lucky! XD).

--

Return

"Well, here we are. Fai, this is our humble abode!" Tomoyo said as she opened the door, motioning for Fai to walk inside. When Fai hesitated, she gave him a gentle push. "Go on, don't be nervous," she smiled at him.

Fai blinked as he entered the living room. His parents hadn't been poor, but they hadn't exactly been rich either. Kurogane, however, _was_ rich. At least he was considering the size of his house. He lived in a pretty small neighbourhood, in which all the houses seemed more like mansions. As far as he knew, Kurogane lived with only his mom, so this seemed a bit too large for two people. He wanted to ask, but obviously he couldn't.

Tomoyo must have seen his jaw dropped, because she explained. "It's rather large, isn't it? My husband's father was a very rich man, so that has a lot to do with it. I also get quite a sum of money from the clothes I design. I used to only make them for friends, but about five years ago I started advertising. I'm quite busy, as you can imagine, but since I love what I do it really isn't even work!" Tomoyo giggled. Kurogane just groaned, grabbed Fai's arm, and began to lead him to his room.

"Kurogane, wait. I wasn't quite finished with you two yet!" Tomoyo called after them. Kurogane trudged back, pulling Fai along behind him.

"Yes?"

"I do hope you're both aware that you have two separate rooms, correct?" Tomoyo said, putting on her serious face. Kurogane didn't appear phased, but Fai was silently crushed by this fact- even though they both knew this was probably coming. Kurogane sighed, and walked back to his room, Fai following happily.

"Fai, your room is just down the hall from Kurogane's! We've already put things in it, as you'll see!" Tomoyo smiled and pointed down the hall they were walking.

When they reached the room that was to be Fai's, Kurogane put the bag with all his stuff in it on the bed and started to walk out. Fai immediately started crying, and ran to Kurogane's side.

"Sheesh! I was gonna give you some time to get situated in your room, but apparently you don't want me to leave," Kurogane said, exasperated. Fai just smiled sadly- he _really_ didn't want to leave Kurogane even for a second. It'd been bad enough when Kurogane had to use the bathroom on the plane- Tomoyo had to hold Fai and calm him so he wouldn't start crying and scare the poor passengers (Kurogane figured they'd scared enough people on the flight up to Washington for a lifetime).

"Okay, so I'll stay in here. But I'm just gonna sit here so you can look around your room. We...I mean, my mom spent a lot of time on it," he started blushing, and Fai knew he'd worked a lot on it as well.

The walls were black and white; which Fai thought was a bit dull until he got closer to them. The black ones were chalkboards, and the white ones were dry-erase boards. He looked around for a few moments before he spotted a light blue cup with tons of chalk and dry-erase markers in every colour you could imagine inside of it. He almost started drawing on the walls, but he figured there'd be time for that later. Instead, he continued to look around his new room.

There was, quite obviously because Kurogane was currently sitting on it, a double bed in one corner of the room, opposite the door. The comforter on it was almost the same pale blue as the cup, and the pillows were covered in a shiny gold material. Next to his bed was a window, with cream-coloured drapes covering it. Over the drapes was a gold and blue bead curtain, and Fai began to catch on to the theme. If this was what _his_ room looked like, he could bet Kurogane's room was all red and black.

Continuing to look around the room, he saw a closet on the other side of the bed, and when he opened it he found it full of clothes. He assumed Tomoyo had made quite a few of them, but he also saw a few things that looked like something Kurogane used to wear. Of course, there were some new clothes too, but he appreciated the other ones more. Panning the room one last time, he took note of the chest of drawers close to the door. As he opened the drawers, he saw the rest of his new wardrobe. There were some plain old shirts and jeans in there, along with pajamas, socks, and underwear. The last two drawers were completely empty, presumably for what clothes he had from the orphanage or other things.

He stuck his art stuff in the very bottom one, but he didn't put away his other clothes. He knew they needed a proper washing, so he handed the bag to Kurogane. He then picked out a new outfit from his new wardrobe, and started changing.

"Whoa! Don't you think you should, ya know, give me some kind of warning before you start changing?" Kurogane gasped in horror, "and anyways, I have an outfit I want you to wear. Hold on a minute…please don't cry while I'm gone." He left the room to go get the outfit he'd made for Fai, and came back as soon as he could. The minute Fai saw it, he ran to Kurogane and snatched it up to admire it. Kurogane could tell that if Fai could actually speak, he'd be 'ooh-ing' and 'ahh-ing' at it- that was just the look he had as he gazed at the outfit.

About a minute later, Fai hurriedly undressed to his underwear and got changed in the outfit Kurogane made as quickly as he physically could. When he looked up, he was actually smiling, and that made Kurogane blush. Fai gave Kurogane a look that said 'did _you _make this_?_'

"Yeah, I made it," Kurogane blushed, "My mom made me do it, but it took me about 24 hours spaced out over a month. I hope you don't hate it…" He was mortified, because he thought it looked horrible. It was {{ADD DESCRIPTION HERE}}. Fai seemed to love it though; because he ran over to Kurogane, threw his arms over his shoulders, and kissed him.

When he pulled away, Kurogane just stood there blinking. "Okay, I'm _still_ not used to you yet," he laughed.

--

Fai nodded towards the bag of clothes sitting on the bed, and Kurogane eventually figured out he wanted to wash them. He sighed, gathered up the clothes, and walked out the door motioning for Fai to join him. Fai smiled slightly and grabbed Kurogane's hand as they walked down the hallway and down two sets of stairs. It turns out what he thought was the first floor was actually the second (he hadn't noticed the house was on a hill). The _actual_ first floor seemed to contain the kitchen, living room, and dining room- all of which were much larger than they should be.

The basement was where the laundry room was, along with a huge storage room, a bathroom, and at the end of the hallway- a family room. They walked into the laundry room and loaded Fai's clothing into the washing machine. Once they'd gotten everything set, Kurogane declared he needed a shower. Since the bathroom was right next to the laundry room, he would be able to hear when the laundry went off, except for the fact he'd left a change of clothes upstairs so he'd have to walk anyways. _So much for being lazy, _he thought.

He just sighed and went upstairs (with Fai tagging along, of course) to get all his stuff. That took all of two minutes, but still- he was feeling rather lazy today. When they arrived back at the bathroom, he walked into the bathroom. Or rather, he _attempted_ to walk into the bathroom, because Fai grabbed his arm to stop him.

"You are _not_ coming in the shower with me!" Kurogane bellowed so loudly that Tomoyo, who was sitting in her bedroom two floors above, heard him. She almost came down there to investigate what was going on, but she soon decided she didn't really want to know what was going on. (That was a lie, of course. She _would _like to know, but she assumed they'd figure things out on their own. It's not like it was really a problem if Fai showered with him, albeit a bit weird, they were still kids…)

Fai looked up at Kurogane with the single largest puppy dog…eye he'd ever seen.

"I don't care. That ain't gonna work this time! You can sit outside the door if you insist on it, but you can forget on coming in. and don't try anything funny or I'll ignore you the rest of the day," Kurogane huffed. Fai just pouted, but he still sat outside the door. Kurogane rolled his eyes and shut the door.

As the door shut, Fai's eyes welled up, and he nearly started crying. He had been without Kurogane for an entire year, and he didn't want to leave him for one second now. As much as it pained him though, he sucked it up and allowed himself to think while Kurogane showered.

He thought about many things. First off, he thought about Kurogane himself. He also thought of this giant house and how he wished the orphanage had been a fourth as nice as the room he had now. This strayed his thoughts towards the orphanage in general, but mainly the people in it. He didn't care about any of them, really, because he didn't want to. Secretly though, he wished he'd have given them a chance, but he couldn't exactly change the past. He wondered what they were doing now, but decided he'd rather not think about them- it was too painful. So instead he just numbly sat there and waited for his beloved Kuro-min to come out of the shower.

--

Once he was safely inside the bathroom, Kurogane breathed a sigh of relief. I mean, he was uber ecstatic that Fai was back, but he honestly couldn't take that much of him in one small time frame. He didn't quite get why Fai was so insistent on not leaving Kurogane's side, but he also didn't suffer what Fai did in the past year. He would have to take all of Fai's newly acquired problems as results of the rather rough year he'd had. Next to Fai, Kurogane seemed like a wimp, which he _did not_ like one bit. Kurogane was a ninja, for crying out loud! He could suffer blows and not get injured (but, being a ninja he rarely got hit), and yet he was a weakling. He couldn't deal with losing some guy he had basically just met, so he went into a spiraling depression (read: he got really, _really _angry). Fai, on the other hand, had a suck-ish life, met Kurogane, got ripped away from him, and had an even more suck-ish year.

Kurogane just grumbled as he lathered his hair with shampoo. He hated Fei so, _so _much. He'd ruined Fai's entire life, through Ashura and then through Kyle. Kurogane got revenge on Kyle, but it still wasn't nearly as bad as what he'd done to Fai- who didn't deserve all the crap that kept happening to him. Kurogane wanted Fei gone, and Kyle too. Hopefully they were done with him for good now though, considering they were no longer in Washington. All Kurogane _should_ have to deal with now were the bullies at school, which shouldn't be too hard considering he was one of them basically.

He finished his shower in a better mood than he'd started it, and changed quickly so he could get back out to Fai- who hopefully wasn't crying.

Fai's face lit up brighter than a thousand watt bulb when Kurogane opened the door. He had been leaning against it, so he fell onto Kurogane's feet. This made Kurogane laugh, considering how the exact same thing had happened to him while they were on the cruise. That felt like so long ago, even though it had only been a little over a year. Fai, on the other hand, didn't seem to think it was that funny, but then again he wasn't exactly the smiling and happy Fai he'd known before.

Fai reached his arms up, expecting Kurogane to pull him up - which he did. Kurogane then blushed and pulled Fai into a soft hug, which produced a gasp from the blonde. Fai was normally the one to attack Kurogane, at least as far as he remembered, so he found this a bit strange. Fai submitted to the hug though, and collapsed onto Kurogane. This surprised him a lot, but Kurogane was strong enough that he didn't fall over. Instead, he just grunted in slight pain.

--

They were still sitting there, Kurogane turning every shade of red imaginable as he cuddled Fai on the couch in the family room, waiting for the dryer to go off, when Tomoyo called them to dinner. Considering she came downstairs to where they were, this made Kurogane blush even deeper. He hid his face in Fai's hair, and his mom just laughed.

"You two are just so cute! Ohoho!" She continued fawning over them for about five minutes, and eventually Fai started blushing too. It took her a few more minutes after all that, but she soon regained her composure and remembered why _else_ she'd come down. "Oh, right! Since dinner's basically done now, would you care to help me set the table?"

Kurogane lifted his head and opened his mouth to complain, but he was cut off by a very, _very_ loud sound- the fire alarm.

"Oh my! It appears the food is burning!" She giggled as she ran up the stairs to deal with the damage. Kurogane supposed they should leave the house, and Fai looked worried, but he dismissed it. This kind of thing happened regularly around here, so he didn't really mind. His mom was rather clumsy, so she often did things like burn their dinner (and almost the house). Plus, he was more comfortable down here with Fai than he was outside.

"IT'S OKAY!" She screamed down the stairs a few minutes later, "BUT WE'RE GONNA HAVE TO GET SOME FOOD OUT! WHAT DO YOU WANT?"

Kurogane sighed; he really didn't want to go out. "Do you want pizza?" He asked Fai, who simply nodded.

"WE'LL TAKE PIZZA!" He screamed back at his mom. When she asked what kind, he replied, "HOW ABOUT- what kind do you want? Pepperoni good? Okay- PEPPERONI!"

"OKII DOKI!" She yelled, and Kurogane couldn't help but roll his eyes. Kurogane and Fai exchanged what-in-the-world-just-happened faces, and then shrugged. Sometimes, he just didn't understand his mom.

--

About thirty minutes later, they were interrupted by Tomoyo again, this time it was because the pizza was there. Kurogane scowled at her for having found them like _this _a second time, and Fai sat there emotionless. Kurogane knew it was going to take a while for him to get used to the new way Fai was, and how he probably would be for quite some time.

Fai scrambled off Kurogane's lap, stood up, and held a hand out to Kurogane- who reluctantly took it. He still wasn't used to being like…_this_…around his mom. Tomoyo, on the other hand, thought this was absolutely adorable, and Fai was still just glad that he was back with Kurogane.

Tomoyo whistled as she skipped back up the stairs, all while she motioned for them to follow her. They exchanged creeped out looks, but followed anyways because they were hungry. After all, they hadn't exactly eaten anything but nasty plane food since they left Washington.

As they walked up the stairs, they began to small the pizza, so they ran the rest of the distance. By the time they got up the stairs and into the dining room, Tomoyo was dancing around the table while setting it.

"Uh, mom, I'm not complaining, but didn't you just come downstairs before you nearly burned down the house to tell _us_ to set the table?" Kurogane questioned.

"Yes, but you were rather, ah, _busy_…so I thought I'd do it for you!" she beamed, obviously unfazed by what she'd just implied.

Kurogane's face turned bright red as he rebutted, "I…We…we weren't…." Fai just snickered, and pulled Kurogane into a hug, which only succeeded in making his face even redder. When Kurogane growled at the blonde, Fai released him immediately, eye wide. (A/N: I still have issues writing 'eye' instead of 'eyes'…) Tomoyo held her laughter to herself, and instead motioned for them to join her at the dining room table. Fai didn't understand why they couldn't just eat in the kitchen, but when he peered into it he saw why- there wasn't even a table in there.

Instead, there were the obvious kitchen things, along with an island in the middle. Sewing necessities like fabric, thread, and ribbon were all over the place, just as Fai had expected. He halfway smiled to himself and joined Kurogane and his mom at the table, and made a point to sit next to Kurogane, who scowled at him.

--

After they finished eating, Tomoyo said she'd do the dishes so they could have some time to themselves, but she warned them it wouldn't be like this every day. Careless and clumsy as she was, she did have rules that were to be abided by. One of those was to do your homework before you did anything else, and another was to do all your chores. Kurogane just waved his hand in annoyment and walked back downstairs with Fai to put his clothes on the line.

That didn't take very long, considering he really didn't have that many clothes to begin with, and he had even less after they'd thrown out the ones that were ripped and stained beyond repair. After they were finished downstairs, they went back to Fai's room. When they were halfway there, Fai must have remembered something, because he took off running in the direction of his room. Kurogane kind of thought it was adorable how he got excited and ran like that, arms flailing behind him, but then he came to his senses and slapped himself. He wasn't about to turn into and even bigger wimp if he could help it.

Not long after Kurogane thought this, Fai came running back to him, art supplies in tow. He opened the sketchbook and frantically pointed to Kurogane's room. The dark haired boy groaned, but opened the door anyways. Fai ran in excitedly and flipped thought his sketchbook until he reached the picture of Kurogane in his room. He looked down at the paper, then back up at the room, and he did a double take. Scanning both once more, his jaw dropped. Kurogane wondered what was wrong, so he walked over to Fai and peered over his shoulder. Looking at the picture, then observing his room carefully, he noticed they were almost exactly identical. The only differences were the comforter, which, in reality, had red and black stripes- _not_ angry puppies- and the position of the closet and window. The scrawny blonde looked very pleased with himself, and beamed as he continued to observe the room.

Once he was finished was finished, he pointed to the window, and did his best at signaling Kurogane to sit by it. He thought he was doing a good job, but to Kurogane he just looked like he was trying to direct a plane. Flustered, he grabbed Kurogane's hand and sat him by the window himself. Kurogane shook his head in disbelief that he couldn't understand such a simple thing, but Fai didn't seem to mind _that_ much.

Kurogane immediately slumped down in an almost Indian-style position, rested his elbow on his knee, and his chin in his hand. Fai thought this was absolutely perfect, so he didn't even bother attempting to pose him. Attempting is the key word the there because it's not like Kurogane would actually, ya know, _let_ him or anything. Instead, he simply picked up his sketchbook and pencil and started sketching out the basics of his picture. He liked to do this before he painted, to make sure he got the proportions correct. Kurogane didn't seem to like this idea very much, but Fai had never got to do this before, and probably wouldn't ever get to do it again, so he was going to take full advantage of this opportunity.

--

As Fai drew, Kurogane had nothing to do but watch him. He didn't mind too much at first; in fact, he almost found the look of concentration on the small boy's face adorable…almost. He did, however, think it was amazing that he could draw with only one eye. Kurogane couldn't draw to save his life, and he had 20/20 vision! He sighed; once again, he looked like a wimp next to Fai.

"Oi, Fai, can I go turn on some music or something? I'm bored." Fai just shook his head no, so Kurogane tried again, "Then can I at least tell you where it's at so you can turn it on?"

To this, Fai nodded reluctantly, so Kurogane explained to him that it was in the third drawer from the top on the right side of his desk. The ipod dock was in there too, because he didn't use either one all that much. He wasn't a big music person, and he wondered if Fai was. If so, he could _have_ the ipod.

"Hey, Fai…do you like music?" He asked. To this, Fai shrugged, and Kurogane couldn't believe this guy. He kept finding out little things like the fact he'd never eaten french fries until he went on the cruise, he didn't know what a dishwasher was, and now he found out he'd probably never listened to music besides for maybe at school or in a store.

"You poor deprived child! I mean, I don't listen to it that much, but at least I know about it!" Fai's expression didn't change, as he was too absorbed in trying to figure out how to work the ipod. Kurogane told him to bring it over, but Fai wouldn't let him move, so instead he just had to explain it to him as best as he could.

After nearly five minutes of explanation, he finally got the thing set up to play on shuffle. Fai then set down to continue drawing, while Kurogane was left to think and listen to the music in peace. He'd honestly forgotten what songs were on there, so it was almost a game to figure out what would come next. Obviously, he guessed wrong about 99 percent of the time, but that other one percent he guessed at least the band correctly. He eventually remembered why he _couldn't_ remember at first- he'd let one of his cousins put the music on for him. He normally thought Nokoru's freaky memory skills were, well, freaky, but he didn't mind when it helped him get music on his ipod. That freaky Imonoyama brat remembered everything about Kurogane, and about music in general, so he'd been able to add songs that he thought Kurogane would like. He gave him Blink-182, Three Days Grace, Timbalands, Cobra Starship, Panic! At the Disco, Bowling For Soup, and Forever the Sickest Kids, to name a few. He tried to pay attention to the look on Fai's face the whole time, so he could see which songs he liked and which he didn't. It seemed as if he was a Forever the Sickest Kids and Three Days Grace fan in the making.

After a very, very long two hours, Fai stood up and turned off the music. He gave the o.k. for Kurogane to move, which he happily obliged by, stretching for nearly five minutes straight. When he was finished stretching, Fai showed him the picture excitedly.

It was better than the other ones, which was expected because he could actually look at his subject while drawing it this time. Kurogane gazed at the painting for a few seconds, but then he realized how weird it was to stare at himself and stopped. Fai went back to his room and looked for a spot to hang it on the wall. Kurogane told him the dry-erase boards were magnetic, and that there were plenty of magnets in the little drawer in his desk. Fai nodded, but set the picture out on the top of his dresser to dry before he hung it.

The thought of Fai hanging a picture of him on his wall creeped Kurogane out a little bit. It was strange enough that he drew him at all! Even if Kurogane could draw, he sure as hell wouldn't be drawing Fai all the time. In fact, he probably wouldn't draw at all because it would make him seem like a sissy. Fai, on the other hand, could get away with it.

--

A few hours later at about ten pm, Tomoyo called from her room that it was bedtime. They would normally be able to stay up later considering it was summer, but they'd had quite a long day on the plane and otherwise. She also told them she'd be out momentarily to make sure they were each in their respective rooms.

Even though she didn't really mind them sleeping together, and she was positive neither of them minded, she still didn't want them to get into the habit of that. It really wasn't normal for people to do that just yet. Granted, they weren't exactly "normal", and she knew neither one of them would be doing anything inappropriate, but it was just the point of it. Tomoyo shook her head; she really didn't like doing this to them, but it was rather necessary. She sighed as she put down the dress she was working on to go check on them.

Surely enough, they were each in their own rooms, just as she had expected. She told Kurogane goodnight as per usual, but when she went into Fai's room she couldn't help but rush up and hug him. Fai gasped, and when she let go she could see tears in his eye even though the room was dark. Tomoyo felt horrible for making him cry, so she just whispered an apology and snuck out of his room.

Fai felt even worse though, because he was crying out of happiness. He was no longer in the orphanage, he was finally free from Ashura, _and _he got to live with the two nicest people he'd ever met (besides for his own brother, of course). Most people would beg to differ about Kurogane, but Fai could argue how sweet he was under his angry mask. Feeling ambitious all of a sudden, he snuck out of his room and down the hall to Kurogane's.

He slowly opened the door, careful not to make a sound, and crept inside. Without even giving a warning first, he slid into the half of the bed that _wasn't _occupied already. Kurogane obviously heard him, because he whisper-yelled that his mom would get angry if she found out, but then he thought for a second and realized how weird that sounded. Tomoyo get mad over Fai sneaking out to sleep in Kurogane's room? Hell, she'd probably _laugh _if she found out, not _punish_ them! Kurogane just sighed heavily and wrapped his arms around Fai's slender body, drifting back to sleep immediately. Fai fell asleep not too long after that, crying more tears of joy as he, for the first time since his parents died, counted his blessings, and honestly looked towards the future with hope.

--

A/N: *headdesk* It's finally finished!! I absolutely HATE the ending, but it's done!! This stupid thing has been sitting around for over a month, and I've just been too lazy to finish it. I sincerely hoped you liked it, though!


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